Emus at The Lost Gardens

As we works towards an emotive commemoration of the outbreak of WW1 with WildWorks Theatre on 3rd August, we are also busy setting the scene by creating a ‘living stage’ reminiscent of the peaceful idyll of a pre-war summer’s day 1914.

In its Victorian heyday, the Heligan Estate was home to a wealth of exotic plantings as well as home to a few exotic pets; as was the fascination of the Victorian gentry and Heligan landowners, the Tremaynes.

This archive image reveals a humorous shot of an emu running across the front lawn of Heligan House with a gentleman in hot pursuit. The image is simply entitled ‘Taylor chasing the emu’. Although we don’t know who Taylor was or if the emu was ever caught, we do know that the Tremaynes kept these exotic birds on the estate.

“We are currently engaged in researching the livestock and practices that would have taken place at Heligan a hundred years ago - that’s where the emus come in!” said our Stockman Michael Hart.