Bodelva, St. Austell, PL24 2SG
Tel: (01726) 811911
Email: webmail@edenproject.com
Web: www.edenproject.com
Web: www.hanglooseadventure.com
The Garden of Eden in Mid Cornwall
The Eden Project is a dramatic global garden the size of thirty football pitches nestling like a lost world in an old china clay pit overlooking St. Austell Bay. Its 50 yard deep crater has become home to thousands of important and beautiful plants and is now visited by thousands of visitors every year.
The complex is dominated by two huge enclosures consisting of adjoining domes that house thousands of plant species, and each enclosure emulates a natural biome. The largest of the two biomes simulates a rainforest environment and the second, a Mediterranean environment. The attraction also has an outside botanical garden which is home to many plants and wildlife native to Cornwall.
Three of the world's climate zones have been chosen for interpretation. The Humid Tropics and The Warm Temperate regions are contained within the two giant geodesic conservatories which have already captured the public imagination.
The third climatic region, our own Cool Temperate zone, thrives on the climatic advantages that Cornwall has to offer. A fabulous range of plants from North America to Chile rub shoulders with the much loved native flora of Cornwall, the Atlantic rainforests, and many of the more familiar crops that have shaped our lives.
However, Eden is much more than the awesome geodesic structures that are the world's largest greenhouses. It is a global garden for the 21st century and beyond, a gateway to a sustainable future, and a dramatic setting in which to tell the fascinating story of man's dependence upon plants.
The project was conceived by Tim Smit and designed by architect Nicholas Grimshaw and took over two years to construct.
The Core is the latest addition to the site and opened in September 2005. It provides the Eden Project with an education facility, incorporating classrooms and exhibition spaces designed to help communicate Eden's central message about the relationship between people and plants. Accordingly, the building has taken its inspiration from plants, most noticeable in the form of the soaring timber roof, which gives the building its distinctive shape.
The Eden Project was used as a filming location for the 2002 James Bond film, Die Another Day (starring Pierce Brosnan). On 2nd July 2005 The Eden Project hosted the "Africa Calling" concert of the Live 8 concert series. It has also provided some plants for the British Museum's Africa garden.
This café in the Visitor Centre at the main entrance to Eden serves ethically sourced coffee, other drinks, delicious selection of cakes, soup, toasties and sourdough melts. Open all day for a quick bite as you head onto site or as a refreshment before you head home.
The initial idea for the project dates back to 1996, with construction beginning in 1998.
The first plants arrive in 2000.
The Eden Project first opened to the public on the 17th March 2001.
On the 15th May 2001 Prince Charles visited the Eden Project.
On the 18th June 2001 The Eden Project, celebrated its one millionth visitor just three months after its official opening.
August 2002 Eden Sessions launches.
November 2004 Cornwall's first undercover ice rink opens at Eden.
April 2005 Our first titan arum.
July 2005 Eden hosts Live 8 event.
In September 2005 Eden opens its newest building named the 'Core' which includes an education facility.
On the 1st June 2006 The Queen visits the Eden Project to officially open the new Core building.
On the 11th June 2007 a 70-tonne granite sculpture of a seed was 'planted' in the Core building at the Eden Project. The thirteen foot high work carved by sculptor Peter Randall-Page and blasted from De Lank Quarry on Bodmin Moor is the centrepiece of Eden's new £15m Core education centre.
In July 2008 Eden welcomed its ten millionth visitor.
July 2009 The Big Lunch launches.
September 2009 Eden opens as a wedding venue.
July 2010 the ten millionth visitor arrives at Eden.
In August 2010 Sir David Attenborough filmed a wildlife documentary at the Eden Project.
In November 2010 Eden was flooded with water up to three foot deep in places.
January 2011 Tim Smit receives a Knighthood.
The Duke and Duchess of Cornwall visited the Eden Project to celebrate its 10th anniversary on the 12th July 2011.
The World Pasty Championships are held at the Eden Project in early March and started in 2012, to celebrate the traditional Cornish pasty, as well as some more unusual varieties. From the Americas to Australia, pasties derived from recipes passed down by Cornish emigrants over centuries are eaten and enjoyed by many millions of people. Entries come from around the world.
In May 2012 Ben Fogle flew the Olympic flame across the rainforest canopy in the Tropical Biome to start its journey throughout the UK.
In July 2012 The Eden Project opened the longest zip wire in England, giving visitors an exhilarating ride across the top of the world-famous Biomes.
The first phase of the Rainforest Canopy Walkway opened in June 2013 in the Rainforest Biome opens with the aim to educate visitors about the importance of rainforests while offering breathtaking views across the Biome.
September 2014 Eden starts employing apprentices.
A YHA hostel opened to provide budget accommodation at the Eden Project on 24th October 2014.
April 2015 Eden starts planting a Redwood Forest.
September 2015 The Eden degree launches.
On the 1st September 2016 The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge visit The Eden Project after their plans to visit the Isles of Scilly were delayed by bad weather.
In March 2017 the extension to the Rainforest Canopy Walkway opens at Eden offering breathtaking views across the Tropical Biome.
July 2017 Eden Project International launches.
In October 2017 The Eden Project has been given highly-prestigious National Plant Collection status by the conservation charity, Plant Heritage, after setting a hillside ablaze with hundreds of red-hot pokers.
A thirty foot tall ceramic structure weighing in at twenty tonnes and inspired by the shape of cyanobacteria, one of the world's smallest living beings, opened to the public at the Eden Project in May 2018. It contains 32 vortex cannons, programmed to exhale synchronised scented fog rings.
December 2020 Lockdowns and landslips at Eden. Winter 2020 saw parts of the Eden gardens covered in mud and rubble, after heavy rain resulted in three landslips and a release of large volumes of floodwater onto the face of the old quarry. The site of the landslip is set to become a stunning waterfall beside the world-famous Biomes, which helps tell the story of water in a new and compelling way for our visitors.
May 2021 Drilling begins for Eden geothermal.
On 11th June 2021 HRH The Queen, the Prince of Wales and the Duchess of Cornwall and the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge all attended The Eden Project for a banquet along with the leaders from the G7 Summit.
6th September 2022 The Duchess of Cornwall attended the BBC's Antiques Roadshow which was being filmed at the Eden Project.
20th March 2023 Phase two of the Rainforest Biome Canopy Walkway at the Eden Project is now open to the public.
Eden is located about two miles north of St. Austell and is easily accessible from both the A30 and A38 - the main routes through Cornwall.
Opening TimesDaily Admission Charged |
Lostwithiel Par St. Austell The Lost Gardens of Heligan The Clay Trails Eden Project Youth Hostel Knightor Winery
The Tortoise Garden The Heritage Trail Wheal Martyn Museum Kidzworld Par Market St. Blazey Knightor Winery