the Long Walk

The Long Walk is the path that runs along the outer side of the high walls enclosing the secret garden at Misselthwaite Manor, a place of profound significance in Mary Lennox's discovery of the hidden world. It is here, on this walk bordered by bare flower-beds and thick ivy, that the robin first perches on the wall and chirps at her, and it is here that the wind blows aside the ivy to reveal the knob of the long-locked door. The walk serves as the threshold between the known gardens and the mysterious, walled-off space that becomes the center of the children's transformation.

Location and Description

The Long Walk is situated outside the walled gardens, with bare flower-beds on either side and ivy growing thickly against the walls. One part of the wall, at the lower end of the walk, has been neglected for a long time, its creeping dark green leaves left untrimmed and bushy, unlike the rest which has been clipped and made neat. This neglected section is where the door to the secret garden is hidden beneath a curtain of ivy. The walk is long enough that Mary, when she first tries to skip its entire length, can only manage half before becoming hot and breathless, having counted up to thirty skips.

Mary's Discovery of the Key and Door

It is on the Long Walk that the robin, having followed Mary, hops onto a small pile of freshly turned earth—earth scratched up by a dog digging for a mole—and there Mary finds an old key, almost buried in the soil. She picks it up, a ring of rusty iron or brass, and realizes it might be the key to the garden that has been buried for ten years. Later, on the same walk, a gust of wind stronger than the rest swings aside some loose ivy trails, and Mary sees a round knob underneath: the knob of a door. She pulls aside the ivy, finds the lock, and fits the key, turning it with both hands. The door opens slowly, and she slips through into the secret garden.

The Walk as a Route of Secrecy

When Colin Craven is finally brought to the garden, the Long Walk becomes part of the carefully planned secret route. Colin, Mary, and Dickon Sowerby follow a path through the shrubbery and around the fountain beds before turning into the Long Walk by the ivied walls. As they approach, the excited sense of an approaching thrill makes them begin to speak in whispers. Mary points out the exact spots: where the robin flew over the wall, where he perched on the heap of earth and showed her the key, and where the ivy was blown back to reveal the door. The walk is the final, hushed corridor leading to the hidden entrance, and no gardener is allowed near it when Colin is out, by his orders to Mr. Roach.

Narrative Significance

The Long Walk functions as a liminal space in the story, a place of waiting, discovery, and transition. It is where Mary first feels the loneliness of the estate and where the robin's friendly whistle brings a look almost like a smile to her sour face. It is the site of the two most important physical discoveries—the key and the door—and it remains the secret approach to the garden, a path that must be kept clear of observers. The walk embodies the tension between the open, managed grounds of the manor and the wild, hidden garden, and it is the physical link between Mary's solitary wanderings and the communal joy she eventually shares with Colin and Dickon.