- Title: Heligan
- Date: 21st March 1997
- Summary: The magical story of The Lost Gardens of Heligan unfolds a little more in its second week to shadow the dramatic transformation of the Sundial Garden. One hundred years ago,the Gardeners' Chronicle described the Sundial Garden,or Mrs Tremayne's flower garden as it was sometimes known,as the finest herbaceous border in England. "This is a very charming enclosure about a quarter of an acre filled with all kinds of old fashioned flowers which produce a gay succession from January through to December." Sadly,by the early 1990s,it had virtually disappeared. The loss of the estate gardeners,who went off to fight in the First World War,combined with the Tremayne family's declining fortunes had resulted in a wild area of grass,sprawling brambles and self-set trees. In 1991,The Lost Gardens of Heligan were rediscovered by TIM SMIT and his business partner JOHN NELSON. The Sundial Garden represented yet another major challenge in their ambitious restoration project. They decide to have a grand opening of the restored garden to mark exactly one hundred years since the enthusiastic review in the Gardeners' Chronicle. It gives then just one year to transform it. ANNABEL WALTON,just 27 years old,has the prestigious job of heading the gardening team. It is her responsibility to plan,lay out and monitor developments of the Sundial Garden. The programme follows the restoration over a 12 month period - from paper plan to the grand opening. All that remained from the original garden was a single Stauntonia and a splendid Davidia involucrata or 'handkerchief tree' which became the focal point of the whole garden. This particular specimen was one of the earliest grown in Britain. The restoration of the Sundial Garden required the combined efforts of all the staff at Heligan. John Nelson is aware of the enormity of the task but remains undaunted. Firstly,the self-seeded cedars and ashes all have to be sawn down then chain sawed into little pieces and carted away on a tractor. Once the whole area is strimmed off,a mini digger is enlisted to extract all the roots. Next,a tractor equipped with ripping machinery returns to break up the ground. Then the team hand-sift the soil to remove any remaining roots,stones and other debris. John marks out the oval shaped path using pegs and string. Over five and a half thousand bricks will need to be laid to restore the original pathways. As the garden is cleared,a real treasure is unearthed from beneath the mass of brambles - a tiny pets' graveyard,with granite inscribed tombstones. John Nelson jokes that the men who carved the stone and who worked at Heligan could not have expected such good quality tombstones,adding,"No,the pets took priority,didn't they?" The planting scheme is then transposed from paper to bare earth,with a sprinkling of sand to mark out the area for each plant. Over a thousand varieties have been carefully selected - typical of what would have been grown in a 1880s herbaceous border. Annabel oversees the intricate operation when they are all delivered,guiding her team to lay them out alphabetically before putting the plants into their allotted positions. Before the sowing of the lawn can take place,the area has to undergo intensive,painstakingly detailed preparation work. The final part of this process involves Annabel leading her team in 'treading' - a trail of minute pigeon steps to flatten the entire grass site. She calls it "synchronised stepping" and claims she's heard it's about to be made into an Olympic sport. The aim was not to create a slavish reproduction of the original but to concoct a new garden based on a combination of what was gleaned from old sepia photographs of Heligan and through examining pre-1880 garden design. The result is a new lawn surrounded by an extraordinary herbaceous border running some 60 feet along one wall,offset with period-correct shrubs on the other. The next job is to retrieve the original sundial. John Nelson has persuaded the current owners of Heligan House to allow it to be taken back to its old home. Finally,the last minute preparations for the 'grand opening' of the Sundial Gardens are underway. Almost miraculously,the border comes into flower ready for the official opening by DAMARIS TREMAYNE,a descendant of the original family that created Heligan. She remembers the original garden from her childhood. So what is her verdict on its restoration? "I think it's marvellous," she beams.
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Entertainment
- Producer:Unspecified
- Programme Episode:Episode 2
- Transmission Date:21/03/1997
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s