ON A blustery November night in 1967, Peter and Valerie

Hadley looked on in horror as a swathe of their clifftop land

was consumed by flames. And despite trying to tackle the fierce

blaze with beaters, daylight revealed acre after acre of

blackened earth.

Little could the couple imagine, as they began to survey the

mess, that what lay beneath the dense mass of gorse, thorn and

scrub was one of the oldest – and as yet undiscovered –

archaeological sites in Cornwall.

“Peter went out in the morning to see the extent of the fire

and came back with a handful of flints and stone tools,” said

Mrs Hadley. “He said he could see a network of very small field

systems and he realised there was something extremely ancient

here, something that had lain there undisturbed for thousands

of years.”

What Mr Hadley, who died in 1996, had stumbled upon was one

of the most significant ancient sites in Cornwall, with

scientific evidence of human habitation dating back some 7,400

years.

The discovery was made on land worked by the Hadleys at

Poldowrian, a coastal farm situated between Coverack and

Kennack Sands on the Lizard peninsula. Poldowrian is in an area

steeped in prehistory, with Lankidden Iron Age cliff castle

close by and an abundance of relics in the vicinity.

The view from the centre of the Bronze Age roundhouse across

the rolling scrub to Bass Point in the west has hardly changed

since time of the hut's original inhabitants some 7,000 years

ago.

Further investigation revealed an abundance of pottery

sherds, flint tools, arrow heads and other items, many of them

contained in and around a small Bronze Age roundhouse. A

detailed survey was conducted in 1981, when archaeologists from

the Department of the Environment carried out a dig and

documented the finds and the extensive system of tiny irregular

fields. One of the items found during the dig was a hazelnut

which radiocarbon dated to 5,400BC – making Poldowrian possibly

the oldest inhabited site in Cornwall.

After completing their survey, archaeologists displayed some

of the finds to the public. However, because Mr and Mrs Hadley

felt the items were not adequately labelled or explained, the

couple set about establishing a museum in a former hay

loft.

Today, Poldowrian Museum of Prehistory – one of only a

handful of museums in the country dedicated to early man –

contains an unrivalled collection of artefacts from the late

Mesolithic Period to the Iron Age. The museum is administered

by local archaeologist Margaret Hunt, with help from Sally

Ealey. It is open by appointment only by calling Mrs Hunt on

01326 280434.

The Hadleys moved to Poldowrian – which is Cornish for

“watery place end” – in 1964, where they successfully developed

a herd of pedigree dairy Friesians. Over the years they battled

with gorse, thorn and bramble to create an extensive woodland

garden in a charmed position which runs down to the coast path

and a sea zawn. Set in a valley, fed by a small stream, the

garden comprises a series of small, interlinked areas.

A satisfying combination of nature and nurture, the wild and

the manicured, Poldowrian Gardens are today open by appointment

only. However, over the years regular charity open days – plus

a devilishly difficult literary competition devised and run by

Peter for many years – the Hadleys raised in excess of £100,000

for charities ranging from the Samaritans and ShelterBox to the

Red Cross and the RNLI.

It is hard to imagine that just a few years ago the clifftop

garden was a mass of dense scrub. Today it boasts a beautiful

pond with an island folly reached by an arched bridge, a beech

grove and pine spinney. Among the variety of planting is a

ginkgo biloba, gunura, tree ferns, hemp agrimony, liquid amber,

roses, figs, apples and plums, potentillas, ceanothus, prunus,

lithospermum, iris and bamboo.

Mrs Hadley has kept a detailed record of the growth of the

garden dating back more than 40 years, with photographs,

drawings and accounts – which records all the hard work

involved. The heavy jobs and construction are now undertaken by

neighbour Bill Penman.

“When we first moved to Poldowrian we decided we wanted to

have a garden – but we never imagined we would make a garden

like the one that's here today. We thought we might just have a

little patch around the house,” said Mrs Hadley.

“It began with us clearing a path to the cliff and putting a

few shrubs in. It wasn't planned on paper because we wanted to

keep the wild elements of the landscape within the garden.

“Of course, being a Cornish garden it is full of camellias,

azaleas and rhododendrons, which means it's a lovely spring

garden, but I try to bring on lots of other things that bloom

at other times as well, like roses which do very well here.

“But it is a constant battle. If it wasn't strimmed for a

month the blackthorn would soon be taking over.”

Accompanying Mrs Hadley on a tour of the site, student

journalist Carys Barriball described it like this: “Standing in

the middle of Poldowrian on a small bridge over a tiny rushing

stream, I felt like a small girl again in an enchanted garden.

I didn't take note of names of plants or flowers, but just

wanted to walk through the next archway created by trees

weaving their own pathways reaching into the sky. Through each

archway lay a new garden, leading the visitor into another

adventure of discovery. At Poldowrian, Valerie Hadley has

created a little bit of Cornish heaven.”

Poldowrian Gardens, which can be found at Gwentor Road,

outside Coverack, are open to the public – but strictly by

appointment only by calling Valerie Hadley on 01326 280468.

There is a nominal entry fee of £3 in aid of ShelterBox.