Morrab Gardens

Morrab Gardens

The gardens were originally part of Morrab House which was built in 1841 as the residence of a wealthy brewer. In 1889 the gardens were bought by the Penzance Corporation to provide a public park for tourists. A competition with a prize of 20 guineas was held for garden designs and the layout today is based on the winning entry by a landscape designer from London. Morrab House became an independent subscription library and the original plans for the gardens are on display in the library. The mild climate has allowed a range of subtropical plants to grow to maturity which have been sourced from across the world including the Americas, Africa and Australia. In the 1800s, exotic plants were very difficult to come by and were donated by wealthy estates who had brought back specimens from plant collecting expeditions abroad. Gardeners' Chronicle captured the excitement in 1889: "One of its features is a Palm-grove, where tourists may fancy themselves in the tropics or on Mediterranean shores."

On walks

Get the iWalkCornwall app

Phone showing walk for purchase
Download the app and use it to explore the walks and to purchase a guided route.
Phone showing Google navigation to start of walk
The app will direct you to the start of the walk via satnav.
Hand holding a phone showing the iWalk Cornwall app
The app guides you around the walk using GPS, removing any worries about getting lost.
Phone showing walk directions page in the iWalk Cornwall app
The walk route is described with detailed, regularly-updated, hand-written directions.
Person looking a directions on phone
Each time there is a new direction to follow, the app will beep to remind you, and will warn you if you go off-route.
Phone showing walk map page in the iWalk Cornwall app
A map shows the route, where you are at all times and even which way you are facing.
Phone showing facts section in iWalk Cornwall app
Each walk is packed with information about the history and nature along the route, from over a decade of research than spans more than 3,000 topics.
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Once a walk is downloaded, the app doesn't need a phone or wifi signal during the walk.
Phone showing walk stats in the iWalk Cornwall app
The app counts down distance to the next direction and estimates time remaining based on your personal walking speed.
Person repairing footpath sign
We keep the directions continually updated for changes to the paths/landmarks - the price for a walk includes ongoing free updates.