The Japanese Garden is at St Mawgan, seven kilometres north-east of Newquay in the Vale of Lanherne, and it is a private garden of about an acre and a half laid out in authentic Japanese style.
It was created in 1994 by the Hore family, who ran a bonsai nursery on the site, and it has matured into something considerably more interesting than its size suggests.
There are several distinct areas, laid out according to Japanese principles rather than as a themed English garden with lanterns in it.
The Stroll Garden — the main circuit, with a water garden, streams, stepping stones, bridges and a koi pond. Planted with acers, azaleas, pines and moss.
The Zen Garden — a dry garden of raked gravel and set stones, of the kind intended for contemplation rather than walking.
The Bamboo Grove — a genuine grove, dense enough to change the light and the sound.
A Moss Garden and a small tea house.
Japanese statuary, stone lanterns and water basins throughout.
A bonsai nursery and specialist plant sales, which are the garden’s origin and remain one of the better bonsai sources in the south-west.
Small and quiet. The recurring word in visitors’ accounts is peaceful, and the garden is designed to produce that: enclosed, shaded, with the sound of water and few sightlines out.
It takes about an hour to walk round properly, less if you are moving.
There are benches throughout and a great deal of shade — which in a hot Cornish summer is a real and specific attraction, and one that several visitors name as the main reason they enjoyed it.
Autumn is the best season: the acers turn, and the garden is designed around that moment.
If you are not interested in plants, you will get less out of it. Some visitors say plainly that it is a nice place to wander and not much more — a small pond, a few statues, a modest waterfall.
That is fair. It is not a grand garden and there is no house, no play area and no landscape view. What it offers is design quality in a small space, and that lands best with people who can see what is being done.
Go for an hour with the right expectations and it is one of the more restorative places near Newquay.
Admission charged, modest.
Time: an hour.
Facilities: gift shop with Japanese ornaments, ceramics, gifts and bonsai; small refreshments. Toilets.
Access: gravel paths, stepping stones and some uneven ground; partly manageable.
Open most of the year, with reduced winter hours — check before travelling.
Parking: on site.
Dogs: not permitted.
The village is worth the extra ten minutes. It sits in a wooded valley with a stream, a fifteenth-century church, a thatched pub, and Lanherne Convent — a Carmelite house in a medieval manor that has been in religious use since 1794, with an important Celtic cross in the churchyard.
It is one of the prettiest villages in this part of Cornwall and almost nobody stops in it.
About an acre and a half, laid out in several distinct Japanese garden styles.
About an hour.
Autumn, for the acers. In summer the shade and benches are a genuine attraction in themselves.
It is a quiet contemplative garden with a koi pond — pleasant for a short visit, but there is nothing to play on.
Yes — St Mawgan has a thatched pub, a fifteenth-century church with an important Celtic cross, and Lanherne Convent.