The Gnome Reserve is a garden and tourist attraction in

West Putford West Putford is a small settlement and civil parish in the local government district of Torridge, Devon, England. The parish, which lies about north of the town of Holsworthy, is surrounded clockwise from the north by the parishes of East Put ...

, near

Bradworthy Bradworthy is a village and civil parish in Devon, England. The village is close to the site of the first wind turbines in Devon, erected in 2005. Bradworthy has the largest village square in England. The civil parish is bordered by the Devon pa ...

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devon is ...

, England, presented as a pastoral refuge for

garden gnomes Garden gnomes (german: links=no, Gartenzwerge, lit=garden dwarfs) are lawn ornament figurines of small humanoid creatures based on the mythological creature and diminutive spirit which occur in Renaissance magic and alchemy, known as gnomes. T ...

. The reserve was established in 1979 by Ann Atkin, a former art student. Her account states:

"…while painting birds in landscapes I came to what was like a T Junction in my painting development. I did not know whether to turn left or right as different elements of what I liked in painting appeared irreconcilably in opposite directions. It was very disturbing! Until – one day – a gnome appeared in my mind and seemed to say: ‘Don’t go left; don’t go right; you must dig / build your own road straight across.’…

She established the reserve on and remains the owner today. Gnome merchandise is sold to visiting tourists. The reserve holds more than 2,000 gnomes and is included in the ''

Guinness Book of World Records ''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...

''. The four-acre reserve also has model

pixie A pixie (also pisky, pixy, pixi, pizkie, and piskie in Cornwall and Devon, and pigsie or puggsy in the New Forest) is a mythical creature of British folklore. Pixies are considered to be particularly concentrated in the high moorland areas arou ...

s. The area includes woodlands, a stream, pond, meadow and wildflower garden with "about 250 labelled species of wildflowers, herbs, grasses and ferns." Photographs are allowed and encouraged. Gnome hats and fishing rods are loaned to visitors free of charge. It is not uncommon for some Gnomes to eventually get taken by the visitors. The Reserve has refused to sell gnomes with knives on their backs.

References

External links

Gnome Reserve website Tourist leaflet BBC News, ''The woman obsessed with gnomes'', 5 September 2013
{{coord, 50.915866, -4.343961, display=title Gnomes Gardens in Devon Torridge District

See also

References

External links