Lamorran House Gardens
Overview
Lamorran House Gardens is a private coastal garden developed from 1982, when Robert and Maria-Antoinette Dudley-Cooke acquired the property. It is not a pure Japanese garden: the design combines strong Japanese and Mediterranean / Italianate influences on a steep subtropical hillside above St Mawes.
History
The garden began after the Dudley-Cookes bought Lamorran House in 1982. The official history says the site was then an overgrown steep slope falling toward St Mawes, and that the owners’ ideas were shaped by travels to La Mortella on Ischia. A Great Gardens of Cornwall interview also states that Japanese influence was one of the two main inspirations, linked to a Japanese garden formerly in the grandmother’s parkland.
Design features
Lamorran is a terraced, subtropical hillside garden with curving gravel paths, archways, pools, streams and sea views. Its Japanese component is best described as a Japanese-style water garden with a koi pond, water features and “temple” or pavilion-like elements, set within a wider Mediterranean and subtropical composition.
Garden elements
Waters and islands
Stones
Other elements
Current status
Extant privately created visitor garden in St Mawes. The garden is normally open seasonally, with visitor access advertised from spring to early autumn; recent notices indicate seasonal closure until Easter 2026.