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Eden Project, Cornwall

The Eden Project, built in an old china clay pit at Bodelva Cornwall, is a modern version of what was once called a "botanic garden". These were gardens designed with a scientific or economic purpose in mind. The botanical gardens of past centuries were concerned with supporting empires, studying exotic plants sent home from colonies, and assessing their economic value. They also offered botanical expertise to colonies. Nowadays botanical gardens see themselves as supporting the world community rather than a set of colonies. Kew Gardens in London, with its focus on conservation, is a good example of the change of emphasis. The Eden Project was designed from the outset with conservation in mind. Within its huge domes, or biomes, visitors can walk amidst plants from various regions of the Earth. It is an ambitious and beautiful place.

 

There is a garden in Cornwall - Trengwainton - that has a walled garden built to the dimensions of Noah's Ark as specified in the Bible. The Eden Project with its domes could be considered a candidate for a Noah's Ark, apparently maintaining plant diversity in a world where man's activities are destroying habitats and tending to restrict cultivated plants to a few heavily dominant species. But, thankfully, the Eden Project does not really come over like that. It is much more a celebration of what man can do with nature than a glum warning about what man is doing to nature. In fact the best way to understand the Eden Project is to go to the nearby Lost Gardens Of Heligan, a huge Victorian estate garden which had fallen into decay following the First World War. It was during the restoration of Heligan that a former record producer named Tim Smit started to think about what became the Eden Project. The whole point of work at Heligan was the rescue of a garden overrun by nature. It seems strange to say it, but it might be a mistake to believe that nature left to itself will always protect diversity, the great watch word of the conservation movement. Before restoration the Heligan handbook describes the garden as being choked by laurel, which is virtually indestructible and grows anywhere. After restoration we have an environment in which many different species of plant are given a chance. Go to the ancient yew forest at Kingley Vale in Sussex and see how densely packed trees shut out light and leave the ground beneath them virtually barren of other plants. Go to Lydford Gorge in Devon and see what seems to be a primeval area of nature, which is actually managed by removing some of the natural tree cover to allow in more light and encourage plant diversity. It all depends upon whether you see man as having any possible useful role to play in nature. The Lost Gardens of Heligan and the Eden Project seem to demonstrate two sides of the same coin, the control of nature and the control of man's use of it. And overall they come out on the positive side, suggesting that man can work usefully with nature. In this way the Eden Project doesn't just come over as preachy and judgmental. Information tends to be presented in a "why don't we do it this way?" style, as opposed to a "don't do that" style. Interestingly apart from a few disgruntled locals, the most virulent opponents of the creation of the Eden Project were actually the Green Party ( see Eden by Tim Smit P110). This perhaps reveals the weakness of the Green position in being too often negative and puritanical rather than constructive and generous. The Eden Project has a welcome sense of celebration and optimism about what man and nature can do together. That's what makes the Eden Project a truly remarkable place. It is not a bubble, a Noah's Ark cut off in its own self regard. Fittingly Eden, unlike Biosphere 2 in Arizona is not an enclosed system. It is an open, naturally ventilated system. It is in fact a huge resource serving the wider community, a new Royal Botanic Garden.

 

 

 

Echinacea at the Eden Project

You could of course ignore all these earnest musings and say that the Eden Project is just a good day out. And what's wrong with saying that? In fact you could say that a day trip is partly responsible for our ability to see the natural world as we do today. Biographers of Charles Darwin have suggested that increasing opportunities for people to take trips in the nineteenth century contributed to the freer society into which Charles Darwin finally felt able to publish The Origin of Species. This book, which has changed the way we look at the natural world, remained hidden in Darwin's study for many years, while it's author fretted over the risks of publishing it. But by the beginning of the 1850s society was changing under the influence of, well, day tripping. Railways were quickly spreading across the country, and people were using them to travel. Visitors flocked to the new London Zoo when it opened to the public in 1847, looking at the animals as bands played on the bandstand. Thirty thousand people visited in the first seven months. 1851 saw the Great Exhibition at Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace in Hyde Park. The railways offered concessionary fares to the exhibition. Huge numbers of people visited, and "day tripping became the rage". As Adrian Desmond and James Moore say in their biography of Darwin, day tripping was both a cause and an effect of a more open society, into which the ideas of Darwin could finally be released in 1859. I found it refreshing to read of Tim Smit batting away the objections of dour environmentalists who felt that he should not build an attraction which would be visited by people in cars. Smit admitted that he loved his car, and that it wasn't the form of transport that was the problem but how it was built and fuelled. "We are not our brother's keeper. If we had to police all aspects of the environment nobody would build anything" (Eden by Tim Smit P108). The car even more than the railway has contributed to a more open society in which people can think more widely as well as travel more widely.

 

 

 

Inside the Warm Temperate Biome

So enjoy your trip to the Eden Project. Your trip itself is part of the history of our perception of nature. Once there you will find all kinds of information about the natural world. There are two enclosed biomes, one dedicated to the humid tropics, and the other to warm temperate lands. The tropical biome, 240 meters long, is extremely hot and humid, so be prepared. It gets hotter as you get further into the biome so remove layers as you go, and turn back if you find it difficult. There are water fountains and seats at intervals. The warm temperate biome is a lot more comfortable, representing what is sometimes referred to as the world's most perfect climate.

I found this the most interesting biome, in that to me it showed the conflict between the potential benefits and problems of cultivation most clearly. Fernard Braudel said that "when you don't cultivate the land in the Mediterranean the land dies". Unless Mediterranean land is cultivated it becomes little more than a scrubby desert. On the other hand, as Tim Smit says in his book: "Go to California and marvel at the millions of acres of citrus and vines and ask where the water comes from... the water table is falling so fiercely that large tracts of the state are suffering from excess soil salinity, and many fear catastrophe" (Eden P250). As I said the potential benefits and the problems are very clear here. An information board says in the Californian section of the biome: "California has huge levels of resource consumption and wealth accumulation which of course have social and environmental costs. However, the region is also the birthplace of innovative new sustainable technology and is home to some of today's most environmentally conscious people".

 

 

An outdoor area has plants representing the cool temperate world. This outdoor area has sections dedicated to all kinds of plants which play a vital part in people's daily lives. The plant background for our food, drink and medicine is all represented. Other areas explore the use of plants in industry - textiles, rubber, perfume making, paint making, and fuel production. There's an historical section showing the kind of flowerless plants which preceded the flowering plants of today. There are information panels, guides, performances, workshops and events. Guided tours are available for individuals and groups. Education is important at the Eden Project and there is very good provision. Hundreds of school children visit every day. For information regarding school visits see the contact details below. Also make sure to go to "The Core" building which has displays on various topics explored at Eden, and on an ambitious project to use geothermal energy to meet all of Eden's power needs in the future.

There are two restaurants between the biomes, a cafe in the ticket hall, and the Gallery restaurant, open in the summer months, offering great views of the biomes. A shop sells a huge range of local and Eden Project branded products.

 

 

 

Opening Times: from 4th January to 12th February and 2nd November to 17th December, Monday to Thursday, 11am -4pm, last admission 2.30pm; Friday and Saturday 11am -9pm, last admission 7.30pm; Sunday 10.30am - 6pm, last admission 4.30pm.

From 13th - 21st February open daily 10am - 6pm, last admission 4.30pm.

From 23rd February to 29th March open daily 10am - 4.30pm, last admission 3pm.

From 30th March to late October open daily 10am - 6pm, last admission 4.30pm.

Closed on 24th and 25th December and 25th and 26th January.

Christmas week opening as follows: 18th and 19th December 10.30am - 9pm, 20th to 23rd December 9.30am - 4.30pm, 26th and 27th December 10.30am - 6pm, 28th to 30th December 10.30am - 9pm, 31st December and 1st January 10.30am - 6pm, 2nd January 10.30am - 9pm and 3rd January 10.30am - 6pm. Last admission ninety minutes before closing.

Please check with the official web site or telephone before your visit as some early closures are possible.

Address: Eden Project, Bodelva, St Austell, Cornwall PL24 2SG

Directions: The Eden Project is four miles east of St Austell, signposted from the A30, A390 and A391. Buses run daily from St Austell, Newquay, Helston, Falmouth and Truro. The nearest train station is St Austell. The Eden Project is on the National Bike Network. Click here for an interactive map centred on the Eden Project. Have a look at the satellite view.

Access: Wheelchair access is good throughout the site, although Eden Project's size, at over thirty five acres, should be bourne in mind. Manual wheelchairs are available. Visitors are welcome to use their own motorised chairs. There are gradients, but these have been kept to a minimum and shouldn't present a problem, especially if you stick to the main route.

Contact:

telephone: 0 1726 811911

web site: www.edenproject.com