- Title: Heligan
- Date: 14th March 1997
- Summary: This new six part series follows the magical reawakening of one of nature's 'Sleeping Beauties'- an exquisite garden which had suffered years of neglect. It was spring 1990,when a young archaeologist turned successful songwriter,TIM SMIT first came across the lost gardens of Heligan. With his old friend JOHN WILLIS and his business partner JOHN NELSON,a local builder,they 'toured' this vast estate,armed with machetes in order to hack their way through. It was a sorry tale of 75 years of growth and neglect,going all the way back to 1914 when the gardeners of Heligan went off to fight in the First World War, most of them never to return. The subsequent decline in the fortunes of the Tremayne family who once owned and were responsible for the glorious and imaginative 157 acre Cornwall gardens,had resulted in a tangled overgrown mass where previously everything had been order,calm and productivity. The first programme traces the history of Heligan - how the house itself was divided into apartments and sold off in the 1960s,how John Willis,a direct descendent of the Tremaynes inherited the land - but was simply overwhelmed by its size and its problems. A chance meeting with Tim Smit and John Nelson changed all that. As Tim says,"The juxtaposition of fecundity and ruin was intoxicating. I was hooked on the romance of decay. I decided right then and there that I would try to restore this wonderful place. I felt quite certain that if I was fascinated by these gardens and their unique story,other people would be too." He was right. Today the lost gardens of Heligan,- Europe's biggest garden restoration this century - are the most popular and most visited privately-owned gardens in Britain. Tim recalls how when he first saw the gardens,it took him back to his childhood,reminding him of The Secret Garden. "What inspired me to fall in love with it," he explains,"wasn't to do with horticulture or anything like that - it was to do with a feeling of finding secret places that had stories. That maybe you'd never know but you could let your fantasy run riot with." As they set about their mammoth task,there were many unexpected surprises. One of the biggest was the discovery of the Ravine - the ultimate in Victorian artifice. John Nelson explains how it had looked like a giant mound which they had been curious about but not yet investigated. Then one day,out on a walk,his dog disappeared into it. Despite repeated calls,she did not return but just kept barking. Following the sound,John Nelson found himself,along with the dog,in a hidden pond. Fallen trees,overgrown brambles,ivy and nearly 70 years worth of fallen leaves had formed a roof,covering an underground complex water system. They discovered it had achieved much more than the 'natural stream' designed to run between the huge boulders. This magnificent feat of Victorian engineering,still in perfect working order today,pumped thousands of gallons of water uphill from the reservoir. For Tim and John,the dilemma of how to restore the Ravine was a difficult one. Should they follow the archive photographs and recreate the same Alpine garden or should they take advantage of the way giant Ash trees had,by accident,created the perfect environment for English ferns and spring flowers. Their decision was to enhance what it had become. Their aim was to create an efficient working garden whilst maintaining the mystery and romance of decay. Tim expands further: "Our restoration policy in broad sweep is to capture the spirit of the place. As far as I'm concerned,if you can't get drunk in it,can't make love in it,can't dream in it,there's no point in having it."
- Broadcaster:Channel 4
- Collection: Channel 4
- Genre:Entertainment
- Producer:Unspecified
- Programme Episode:Episode 1
- Transmission Date:14/03/1997
- Rights:On Request
- Decade: 1990s