The Ghosts Of Heligan

David Mills discovers a story of service, loss and remembrance in Cornwall’s Lost Gardens of Heligan.

- David Mills

It’s nearly 30 years since The Lost Gardens of Heligan near Mevagissey were rediscovered and the process of restoring them to their former glory began.

Today, the Gardens are renowned as one of Britain’s foremost cultural and horticultural treasures.

But reclaiming the Gardens revealed another story – that of the men who worked there over a century ago, some of whom gave their lives in the First World War.

The story was first uncovered in February 1990, when local archaeologist Tim Smit and John Willis of the Tremayne family – former owners of Heligan House – hacked their way through undergrowth and came across a walled garden with a small building in its corner.

‘It was utter chaos, but they had a sense that this was a significant room,’ explains Candy Smit, Heligan’s resident historian. ‘Gradually, as they emptied the room, they found signatures written into the old lime plaster, and about halfway down they came upon the date – August 1914.’