The Lost Gardens of Heligan

The Lost Gardens of Heligan were part of the Heligan estate near Megavissey. After many of the estate gardeners were killed in the first world war, the gardens were neglected and became massively overgrown, hence the 'lost' part. In the 1990s, they were restored to their former glory with a lot of hard work - there are fascinating displays of photos showing just what a disastrous state they were in. The gardens were a pretty innovative place duiring Victorian times - they now house Europe's only remaining functional pineapple pit, where pineapples are grown in a glass house warmed from above by the sun and from below by rotting manure piled in a tunnel underneath. Those gardeners certainly earned their keep!

( The Rebuilt Gardens of Heligan )