TWO-hundred-year old ‘lost gardens’ on Exmoor are being brought back to life by national park volunteers.

The unfinished Ashcombe Gardens, in Simonsbath, were discovered during a survey in 2001 and a project was set up to investigate and sympathetically renovate the landscape.

A national park authority spokesperson said: “This lost garden was designed and started by John Knight in the early 1800s but never finished.

“The garden represents one of the last picturesque landscapes in England but its original vision was never completed.

“Traces of garden terraces, bridges, and paths remain, but very little is known about the overall plan for the gardens.

“We are now working to uncover and reawaken this landscape, making it a welcome space for visitors to explore.”

The authority is always looking for more volunteers to help the restoration project, with activities varying from practical groundwork to planting and ongoing maintenance, through to historical research.

The landscape, a remote, sheltered, wooded valley high on Exmoor, has a moorland stream running through it and includes White Rock Cottage, the old schoolhouse, and a gardener’s store.

The authority has been working with the local community and volunteers to bring back to life an important part of Exmoor’s heritage.

The CareMoor for Exmoor charity has helped to fund restoration of the gardener’s store and supported volunteers to plant about 200 native trees, including hornbeam, hawthorn, yew, juniper, and box, as well as some exotic species.

Volunteers have also helped to clean up a large stretch of the leat and managed vegetation along the stream to recreate vistas and viewpoints, and they continue to meet regularly throughout the year to help.

The spokesperson said: “This is an incredible opportunity to reawaken the original garden vision of a wild valley with rocky outcrops, waterfalls, native trees in diversity, and exotic species available in 1820.”