Explore The Garden
– Open 7 days, 10am – 5pm
– Adult £8 / Youth £5
– Dogs welcome on leads, please take dog waste home
Tickets are available online through Eventbrite and on-site at The Stables Cafe & Shop, at the end of Newport Road.
Visitors are advised that they walk at their own risk and we will not be liable for any accidents or injuries caused. There are uneven surfaces throughout the Estate, so please wear the correct footwear.
For more information on how to make your picnic, walk, tour, wedding or event extra special please get in touch with us
Port Eliot is incredibly proud of its 60 acre Repton landscaped gardens. These encompass a vast rhododendron garden, maze, bowling green, orangery, arboretum and magnificent view of the estuary – not to mention the majestic St Germans viaduct stretching over it.
The site on which Port Eliot sits is to the north of a steep hill which protects it from the prevailing south-westerly winds. On the highest point of this hill there is an Iron Age ring fort, from which its early inhabitants could see down the estuary towards the sea. It was from this direction that the greatest danger came by way of marauding seafarers.
Between the Port Eliot gardens and the village sits St Germans Priory Church. which is said to be the finest, oldest, historic church in Cornwall. Once a cathedral and part of the Pilgrim’s Way, it is an architecturally fascinating building with a well preserved Norman doorway and Burne Jones’ windows as part of its fine features. For more information please go to www.stgermanspriory.info
The earliest written reference to Port Eliot is in a 9th-century Cornish liturgical fragment kept at the Bodleian Library in Oxford. It refers to Ecclesia Lnanledensia, which is considered the pre-Christian name of this place.
The exact date of the foundation of St Germans priory is uncertain; probably it belonged to the Brito-Celtic age, and possibly even to the time of the great Germanus himself, who is likely to have been directly or indirectly the founder of the House.
In recent years our visitors have enjoyed picnicking in many of the picturesque spots in our gardens – a unique experience to celebrate a special event, or a treat whilst on holiday.
Between the Port Eliot gardens and the village sits St Germans Priory Church. which is said to be the finest, oldest, historic church in Cornwall. Once a cathedral and part of the Pilgrim’s Way, it is an architecturally fascinating building with a well preserved Norman doorway and Burne Jones’ windows as part of its fine features. For more information please go to www.stgermanspriory.info
