To call the Garden of Cosmic Speculation a 'garden' underplays it enormously: there are forty main areas — which take in gardens, bridges, sculpture, terraces, architecture and more — across a site that covers thirty acres. And the whole thing will have you alternately gazing in awe, scratching your chin in disbelief and laughing out loud, as the website's description suggests: 'The Garden of Cosmic Speculation uses nature to celebrate nature, both intellectually and through the senses, including the sense of humour.'
If Lewis Carroll, Willy Wonka and Capability Brown got together, they might create something very like the late Charles Jencks’s psychedelic Garden of Cosmic Speculation.
It’s only open for one day a year (usually the first Sunday in May), through Scotland’s Gardens Scheme, and proceeds go to Maggie’s Centres.
As you’d expect from the landscape at the home of a father of post-Modernism, there are topsy-turvy landforms, striking sculptures, ‘black holes’ and Dali-esque proportions.
It's a magnificent spectacle that's quite marvellously bonkers, in the best possible way.
Find out more and get details of opening at gardenofcosmicspeculation.com, or see more of Secret Britain
Burrow Mump, Somerset: Alfred the Great's lookout point
The famed hill in Burrowbridge is today's Secret Britain spot.
North Meadow, Cricklade: An ancient field where half a million wildflowers create a wall of colour
The spectacular North Meadow, in Cricklade, Wiltshire, is a Secret Britain sight we should all enjoy at least once.
Credit: Getty/Alamy/Shutterstock
The secret history of the milestone, from Roman Britain to Industrial Revolution and beyond
The milestones which help travellers find their way across Britain have been a feature of the nation's highways and byways
Humphry Repton's 'secret country gem' at Endsleigh, one of the finest hotel gardens in Britain
Non Morris explores the historic 100-acre grounds of Endsleigh, Olga Polizzi’s alluring West Country hotel, designed by Humphry Repton in
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This blissful converted mill has sweeping views, a breathtaking library and gardens by a Chelsea gold medallistPenny Churchill takes a look at Stanbridge Mill, one of the finest properties for sale today in the west country.
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The smooth collie: A working breed with beauty and brainsOnce the go-to Scottish herding dog, the smooth collie is as elegant as it is dependable — a working breed with beauty and brains.
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St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, Heysham: The mythical Lancashire ruins with a heavenly viewAnnunciata Elwes takes a look at St Patrick’s Chapel ruins, a Morecambe Bay landmark.
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Suisnish, Isle of Skye: The atmospheric ruins of a Clearance villageBeauty now reigns in a tragic spot where hundreds of villagers suffered during the Clearance
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Covehithe beach, Suffolk, where the cliffs crumble like cakeThe most eroded beach in Britain has a post-apocalyptic feel.
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Clydach Ironworks, Monmouthshire: Ruins in the gorge that inspired ShakespeareAn oasis of quiet now stands where the steam hammers thudded at this Welsh ironworks, in a river valley that may have moved Shakespeare to write A Midsummer Night’s Dream.
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Royston Cave, Hertfordshire: A mysterious site full of sacred energyOur Secret Britain series continues with a Hertofrdshire cave whose true nature remains unknown.
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John Bunting War Memorial Chapel, Scotch Corner: The painstaking transformation of rubble to War MemorialAnnunciata Elwes celebrates the effort that turned a derelict house into a memorial.
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The Airman’s Grave, Ashdown Forest: A touching and little-known memorial to victims of war and fateA wartime tragedy in East Sussex's Ashdown Forest is among our Secret Britain picks, as chosen by Annunciata Elwes.
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St Lythans chambered long barrow, Vale of Glamorgan: A place to make a Halloween wishAnnunciata Elwes looks at the myths and legends surrounding St Lythans chambered long barrow.
