2 Entering the Gardens

The gates at this entrance commemorate the centenary of the Gardens, established in 1889. In the mid-nineteenth century Penzance was becoming a popular destination for visitors and Penzance Borough was actively encouraging this. The town corporation had already constructed the Promenade and the Queens Hotel and, in 1888, bought Morrab House together with surrounding meadow land to set out as a public park. In September of the following year, with much celebration and feasting, Morrab Gardens was opened.

From the outset this was a garden that was renowned for its exotic planting. An early visitor wrote in the Gardeners’ Chronicle: “One of its features is a Palm-grove, where tourists may fancy themselves in the tropics or on Mediterranean shores.”