West Cornwall: Trevarno Manor Gardens
Posted Feb 05, 2004 - 12:09 AM
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 | Within beautiful, historic Trevarno Estate one of Cornwall's most romantic 40 acre woodland garden is an extensive collection of rare shrubs, trees, walled gardens mysterious rookeries, grotto, enchanting lake, cascade & more...
Click here or on Garden Name above for more. |
| nr Helston, Cornwall | Telephone: 01326 574274 | Fax: 01326 574282 | Email: info@trevarno.co.uk |
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Trevarno is one of a small number of historic Cornish estates which have survived during the mixed fortunes of the county.
Sadly, over the years many traditional estates have been lost forever as the costs of maintaining them became prohibitive and death duties took their toll.
Many famous Cornish estates such as Tehidy, Clowance, Bochym, Carclew and the well know Heligan have all been broken up and the manor houses, in some cases, converted to apartments or time share units. |
| Trevarno estate can be traced back to 1245 and has been owned by a succession of notable families over the centuries. In 1995 Trevarno was put up for sale for the first time in 120 years and split into 33 lots to make the disposal more manageable. At that time we were looking for a country house surrounded by a few acres to use as company headquarters. |
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| After viewing Trevarno we were filled with an overwhelming passion to save the estate from being broken up and to restore the buildings, gardens, farms and cottages. After managing to successfully purchase all 33 lots the magnitude of the project started to become clear. With approaching 1000 acres to deal with we decided to start at the centre and work out. It also became obvious that just to maintain the estate in its current condition would be a major ongoing expense, to undertake a long term restoration plan for all areas of the estate would require colossal resources. |
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During 1996 we formulated a restoration plan together with an estate regeneration plan comprising a range of projects which would generate additional income to fund restoration work. The overriding ethos was that all activities should be sensitive to Trevarno and the local environment. |
| Other aims would be the creating of or new and sustainable jobs and the development of rural crafts and a thriving community within the estate. Following detailed and lengthy discussions with the planning authority to resolve a range of delicate issues work started during the summer of 1996 to provide the basic infrastructure necessary to open the gardens to visitors. |
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| Highway improvements and woodland clearance along the entrance roads, car parking, new exit route and toilet facilities were all completed that year. During 1997 we started to concentrate on the main gardens and grounds which would become a focal point for visitors. |
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| A great deal of basic clearance work was necessary including the removal of dangerous or fallen trees (one vast beech tree which had fallen into the lake took five men and an array of machinery five weeks to clear). The lake was partially drained so that many hundreds of tons of silt which had completely blocked the cascade end could be removed. In parallel with this work the design and construction of the fountain garden conservatory was started for completion by the end of 1997. By the beginning of 1998 we were ready to start new planting in the conservatory and a few areas of the garden in time for our formal opening in March l998. |
| Although to date most of our efforts have been directed at the gardens and infrastructure we have also made progress on a number of other projects, in particular the Gardening Museum which is currently housed in the original carriage house and comprises what is believed to be the largest and most comprehensive collection of garden related tools, implements, requisites, ephemera and memorabilia in the country. |
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| We are now very pressed for space and are in the process of designing a dedicated building to display the ever increasing collection. It is hoped that when this has been completed the museum will become recognised as a National collection. |
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Other projects which are well underway are the preparation of a guide book covering the history and horticulture of Trevarno including a comprehensive plant list. A Pottery and Handmade Soap Workshop. both of which have been established in buildings next to the gardens. Trevarno pottery has been established to create a range of decorative and practical items influenced by the gardens which provide an excellent source of inspiration. |
| Trevarno Handmade Soap Workshop is a very exciting and unique project which combines the forgotten secrets of soap making with the purest natural ingredients. Unlike commercial mass produced "soap" which, in many cases, is not soap but detergent or heavily processed soap using animal remains, Trevarno Hand Made Soap uses only pure plant extracts such as olive oil, palm oil, sunflower oil, coconut oil, avocado oil etc. We are currently producing a range of pure skin care soaps with and without herbs and essential oils. These wonderful and completely natural soaps together with Trevarno pottery are for sale in the conservatory. |
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Although the restoration and regeneration projects will continue for many years our plans for the next three years include:
- 1998/99 Restoration of the Italian Garden.
- 1998/99 -The development of a bee centre with honey and beeswax production and practical workshops.
- 1999 - Creation of a Henry Doubleday Heritage Seed library garden in the top walled garden.
- 1999 - Restoration and replanting of woodland areas between bluebell valley and the walled gardens.
- 1999 - The creation of a wild flower garden.
- 1999/2000 - Restoration of the glass house in the top walled garden.
- 2000 - Creation of an Holistic Herb garden in the bottom walled garden, focusing on medicinal herbs
- 2000 - Rebuilding of the glass house in the bottom walled garden.
- 2000 - The development of a herbal workshop together with practical courses.
- 2000 - The restoration of Trevarno water mill and the creation of a water mill museum.
- 2000 - The creation of new woodland walks and nature trails to allow visitors greater access throughout Trevarno Estate.
- 2000 - The creation of new gardens with specific themes including: The Plant Hunters. Pioneering Nursery Men. South African species. Australian species. South American species
- 2001 - The development of a Hand-Made Paper workshop.
- 2001 - The development of a Tin Smelting plant and tin, pewter jewellery workshop.
Trevarno Museum of Gardening
The Trevarno Museum of Gardening, at present housed in the old coach house, has on display over 700 items of gardening requisites, dating from the latter part of 1700's the collection contains many rare and unusual items. The first display shows ground breakers and cultivating tools, many hand forged. Next the tilthing tools and lopers and pruners. The water sprinklers are amazing and lead on to insecticide puffers and sprayers. Don't forget to look upwards for the averuncator! Rare seed cabinets form the backdrop to a collection of old seed packets, labels, dibbers and seed sowers, overlooked by wall mounted colourful rare enamel signs from long gone seed companies. Walk past the vine equipment and 19th Century glass propagating cloches and into the re-created potting shed. Imagine the head gardener in here having a quiet pipe and a mug of strong tea. Down the picket walk to a case of rare Gentlemen's tools and many prize winners medallions. The children's section has been collected and displayed to encourage and to show today's youngsters that the pleasure of a garden can last a lifetime and also be fun. The exhibits of hedge clippers, shears and vintage mowers should stir a memory or two! Lastly the cases of ephemera illustrate that large grounds are not essential to enjoy the pleasure of collecting gardenalia.
Enjoy. |
Trevarno Estate and Gardens
Helston, Cornwall
Telephone : 01326 574274 |
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