The Eden Project is a large botanical garden and environmental education centre in Cornwall, built in a former china clay pit near St Austell. Its emblems are the biomes, huge bubble-shaped greenhouses joined together, which enclose a tropical rainforest and a Mediterranean landscape. Opened in 2001, it has become one of the most visited attractions in the United Kingdom and a world-famous example of the regeneration of an industrial site.
History
The idea came from the entrepreneur Tim Smit, the same man who had brought the nearby Lost Gardens of Heligan back to life. In the 1990s he imagined a place that would tell the story of the relationship between people and plants, and chose an exhausted china clay pit, about 60 metres deep, a lunar landscape without a blade of grass. To create the ground, tens of thousands of tonnes of fertile soil were produced by mixing mining waste and compost. The biomes were designed by the practice of the architect Nicholas Grimshaw, with a steel structure and hexagonal cushions of a transparent plastic material, much lighter than glass. The project was partly funded by the National Lottery's millennium fund.
- 1995Tim Smit develops the idea of the Eden Project
- 1998Work begins in the china clay pit
- 2001The Eden Project opens to the public
- 2005The Core education centre opens
- 2007The Seed sculpture is installed
What to see
The Rainforest Biome
The Rainforest Biome is the largest indoor rainforest in the world. Inside, in humid tropical heat, more than a thousand plant species from South-East Asia, West Africa, South America and the tropical islands grow: rubber trees, bananas, cocoa, coffee, bamboo, a waterfall and a stream. A path climbs up to a suspended platform beneath the dome, from which you look down on the forest. Displays explain how tropical plants become the food, medicines and materials of everyday life.
The Mediterranean Biome
The Mediterranean Biome recreates the landscapes of the Mediterranean, California and South Africa, with olive trees, citrus fruit, vines, chillies, aromatic herbs and plants of the South African fynbos. Italian visitors in particular will be amused to find a piece of home here in Cornwall, with lemons, ancient olive trees and terraces.
The outdoor gardens and The Core
Around the biomes stretch the outdoor gardens, with useful plants from temperate zones: tea, hops, lavender, vegetables, dye plants and a large wildflower meadow. The Core is an education building with exhibitions on nature and the environment, home to The Seed, a 70-tonne granite sculpture carved by Peter Randall-Page with a pattern inspired by the spirals of seeds and pine cones.
Activities and events
For thrill-seekers there is a zip wire, one of the longest in England, which flies over the pit. In summer the Eden Sessions are held, open-air concerts by famous artists with the biomes as a backdrop, and in winter the pit is lit up with light installations.
Practical information
The Eden Project is open all year, except for a few days. Tickets bought online are usually cheaper; the website also lists options for returning several times during the year. It is very hot in the tropical biome, so dress in layers. Opening times and prices are published on the official website.
Getting there
- By train: from London Paddington to St Austell or Par in about four and a half hours, then a local bus (about 20 minutes).
- By car: about 5 kilometres from St Austell; large car parks linked by shuttle.
- By air: Newquay Airport is about 30 minutes away.
Nearby
- The Lost Gardens of Heligan, about 20 minutes away.
- The harbour of Charlestown, set for many period dramas, and the town of Fowey.
- St Michael's Mount and St Ives, about an hour away.
Tips
- How long: at least half a day, ideally a full day.
- When to go: all year round; on rainy days the biomes are a perfect refuge.
- A tip: visit the rainforest first, in the morning, when there are fewer people and the temperature is more bearable.