More than 2,000,000 people visit Alton Towers each year, travelling from all over the UK to experience the biggest theme park in the country. Of that vast company, only a small number ever venture into the Gardens, and then usually only to cross from the Dark Forest to the Forbidden Valley in search of more rollercoasters.

Within the Gardens, however, there are many interesting relics to be found. These are evidence of bygone ages of the park. Neglected and hollow they may be, but they remain.

Here are just a few.

1. The Bear Cave

Beneath Prospect Tower on the Forbidden Valley side of the Gardens you’ll find a small, dark, slightly damp cave, open on two sides. This stone cubby was once home to a live black bear, who would entertain visitors throughout the 1850s.

Following his death he was stuffed and moved to the Towers themselves. His current whereabouts are unknown.

2. Swiss Cottage

This cottage overlooks the Gardens, with an excellent view across to the other side of the valley from the patio at the front. The doors are locked, the wallpaper peeling, the floorboards bare.

When first constructed in 1835 it was a home for Edward Jervis, a blind harpist who played to entertain visitors to the Earl of Shrewbsury’s estate. In the late 1900s it was used briefly as a cafe, offering food and drink to visitors to the Gardens. Now it is used for nothing.

3. Abandoned Toilet Block

Just above the Swiss Cottage stands a portable cabin, corroded by years of neglect. Once upon a time this was a serviceable block of toilets, provided for the convenience of picnicking guests.

In recent years, however, visitors have ceased to frequent the Gardens. Providing facilities there is no longer necessary. The floors have fallen in, the cisterns have been smashed, and mould and weeds have grown around the frame of this rusting cube.

4. View of Alton Castle

Enter the gardens from Forbidden Valley, and follow a narrow, rambling path along the base of a sheer rock wall. The gardens on your right will give way to wild woodland. Brambles will encroach. Persist. After half a mile you will be rewarded with a clear view across the valley, over the canopy of the forest, all the way to Alton Castle.

Where Alton Towers is squat and square, buttressed and firm, Alton Castle is spired and pointed, a fairytale hallucination of a different world. This fantastical sibling to the Towers is now primarily used for Catholic youth retreats.

5. La Refuge

In Victorian times, La Refuge was a bathing pond, flanked by the Colonnade of the Muses, and surrounded by creeping greenery. It would have been an idyllic and beautiful place to swim.

No more. The door which once would have lead to the changing rooms is now firmly locked. It presents itself as a mystery. This sealed door hints at a subterranean world beneath the sweeping lawns in front of the Towers.

6. A Nature Trail

Descend to the bottom of the gardens. Open a mouldering gate and follow a path sunken in dead leaves for a mile into the woods. Silence surrounds you. You would not know that you are still inside one of the UKs largest visitor attractions.

When you finally meet the fence, follow it to its end. Notice a series of metal posts, engraved with etchings of leaves, information about local flora. The words are eroded by time and neglect, almost invisible, barely more than scratches and dirt.