Valhalla Museum

Tresco Abbey Gardens lie on Tresco, one of the Scilly Islands off Cornwall. Augustus Smith built his granite house and private garden here in the 19th century, using local stone and salvaged timbers. The walls and shelterbelts he planted still stand, protecting exotic plants from Atlantic gales. Remains of a 10th-century Benedictine abbey and a 12th-century priory lie within the grounds. Shelterbelts of Monterey cypress and pine were added later to shield the garden from coastal winds. The Valhalla Museum inside the gardens holds about thirty figureheads, name-boards and carvings from wrecked sailing ships. Augustus Smith began the collection in the 1830s, choosing pieces from vessels lost around the islands. Some figureheads date from the 17th century, others from the 19th. The museum displays carvings from ships such as HMS Association, wrecked in 1707, and the Russian Alessandro II Grande, lost in 1851. Visitors walk through the sheltered gardens to reach the museum. The granite house with its slate roof overlooks sand dunes and Carn Near beach. Exotic trees from South Africa, New Zealand and Australia grow beside Mediterranean shrubs. Red squirrels introduced in 2012 can still be seen among the planting. The museum’s carvings line the walls, each telling part of the islands’ maritime past.