Gardens to visit in North Devon and Cornwall

Holiday Lodges - North Devon

Hartland Abbey lies across a beautiful, sheltered valley by a small trout stream, only a mile walk from the spectacular Atlantic Cove.From 1157-1539 the Augustinian Canons lived and gardened in this hidden paradise. In the 18th Century shrub gardens were created either side of the abbey with a woodland walk to the walled kitchen gardens.

• Hartland 01237 441264
• May to Sept (incl Easter Sun/Mon) Wed, Thur & Sun(plus Tue in July & Aug) 2.00pm to 5.30pm
• 15 miles west of Bideford - off A39 between Hartland and Hartland Quay
• Cafe
• Dogs on leads

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DOCTON MILL - Less than a mile from the sea, nestling in one of Devon's outstanding beauty spots lies Docton Mill. The mill itself, mentioned in the Domesday Book, has been restored along with its waterways and now generates electricity for the house.The internationally renowned garden blends with natural landscape. Eight acres of sheltered wooded valley with millpond, leats, trout stream crossed by footbridges and smaller streams. The encompassing bog garden is exceptional.Docton is situated close to the famous Spekes Mill waterfall and to Hartland Quay with its fascinating rock formations.

• Hartland 01237 441369
• Open 1st Mar-31st Oct 10am-5pm
• A39 to Hartland - then follow the tourist board flower sign to Spekes Valley
• Dogs on leads
• Cream teas and sandwiches. Plant sales

The Eden Project is a millennium project based in Cornwall. Two giant conservatories are being constructed to nurture plants from the steamy rainforests and from the warm temperate regions of the world. These covered biodomes will create a majestic backdrop to the ‘roofless' biodome, home to the plants of the temperate regions, from Britain to Chile and beyond.

The Lost Gardens of Heligan overlook the fishing village of Mevagissey and extend to some 60 acres - the largest garden restoration of its kind in Europe. Heligan was the home of the Tremayne family from the 16th Century and was a thriving, self-contained community until the First World War. Half the staff were to lose their lives in the war, and although the Tremayne family returned for a few years after the war, Heligan was evenutally tenanted out. Heligan fell into a state of disrepair and decay, until it was rediscovered in 1991 and extensively restored to its former Victorian glory. Heligan contains many gardens within a garden including an Italianate garden, summerhouses, crystal grotto, the flora green lawn surrounded by giant rhododendrons, the Victorian walled garden and vegetable garden.