Directly behind Blackpool Sands – one of the most breathtaking beaches on South Devon’s Heritage Coast – lies a secret garden: a small green door hides a forgotten world which today is coming back to life.
In Spring 2000, Sir Geoffrey Newman Bt., set about the restoration of the garden established in 1896 by his ancestor, Robert Lydston Newman, Deputy Governor of the Bank of England, on land which had already been in the family for almost 100 years.
Robert’s eldest son, Sir Ralph Newman Bt., extended the garden, adding to the collection of semi-tropical plants gathered from the four corners of the world.
A garden at work and play…
Today’s restoration presents a garden married to the landscape. Not one filled with regimented ornamental flowerbeds, but a plantsman’s garden that reflects a family’s use of the land over the centuries and the social development of a small estate by a family rooted in the economy of the area. As recently as the 1970s, this garden regularly supplied vegetables and flowers to London’s markets.
Follow the gently sloping paths that criss-cross through the trees and shrubs, catching glimpses of the sea as you go. Visit the Crow’s Nest and the path above the Captain’s Seat for spectacular views of Start Bay. On your way, study the different plants – or take a seat and enjoy a few quiet moments.Before you know it, you’ll have climbed high above the ocean, you’ll have reached another country and feel at home in another time.
A host of rare and unusual specimens, many from the Southern Hemisphere, have found a home here such as varieties of Leptospermums and Callistemons, Embothriums, Olearias and Pittosporums. These together with plants and shrubs from other parts of the world thrive in the garden’s southerly, coastal location, while at the same time enjoying the protection from salt-laden winds afforded them by the dense evergreen belt of trees that lines the coastal road.
