A SECRET garden in the heart of Minehead, largely forgotten for over 60 years, could soon be coming back to life if the efforts of a group of enthusiastic volunteers are successful.

Hidden behind grassy banks and high walls, its massive door locked and barred, the terraced Victorian palm garden once belonging to the now-demolished Clanville House is invisible from surrounding roads and properties.

A dozen people walking this week in Holloway Street only yards from the acre of overgrown wilderness said they had no idea it was there.

Now volunteers from Minehead Community Group, headed by ex- London journalist Michael Burke, are pressing Minehead Town Council to approach the owners, West Somerset Council, to take over what they believe could be a unique attraction for the town.

A previous attempt by Minehead Development Trust to restore the abandoned garden was made four years ago after the district council offered it to the community “if a viable use could be identified”. The project was later discontinued.

The new venture, to rescue what Michael Burke described as “a fabulous piece of horticultural history”, plans to start modestly, with very little expenditure until a report has been made on the actual state of the garden.

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