Tregothnan is a country house and estate near the village of St Michael Penkivel, southeast of Truro, Cornwall, England, which has for many centuries been a possession of the Boscawens.

Geography

Location

Tregothnan is located on a hill overlooking an inlet of the

Truro River The Truro River ( kw, Hyldreth) is a river in the city of Truro in Cornwall, England, UK. It is the product of the convergence of the two rivers named Kenwyn and Allen which run under the city: the Truro River (named after the city) flows int ...

. It includes many varied grounds and wooded areas beyond the immediate environs of the house.

History

The house and estate is the historic seat of the Boscawen family, Viscounts Falmouth. Tregothnan was acquired in 1334 (or 1335) by John de Boscawen when he married the heiress, Joan de Tregothnan. The medieval house then had a courtyard plan with a prominent gate-tower. The original medieval house was ransacked in the 17th century during the English Civil War. The new house was built after 1650. This building was visited and described by Celia Fiennes, a cousin of Hugh Boscawen, the builder. In the 18th century, the house was the home of Admiral Edward Boscawen. In 1818, the house was enlarged by William Wilkins for the fourth Viscount Falmouth and in 1845–48 Lewis Vulliamy rebuilt it for the second Earl of Falmouth. In 1872 the land holdings of Viscount Falmouth, of

Mereworth Castle Mereworth Castle is a grade I listed Neo-Palladian country house in Mereworth, Kent, England. This source attributes the plasterwork to Francesco Bagutti, but Giovanni Bagutti would appear to be more likely. History Originally the site of ...

, Maidstone, Kent, were listed in the top ten land holdings in Cornwall, with an estate of , 3.41% of the total area of Cornwall. Tregothnan is still managed by the Boscawen family today.

Description

The house is mainly the work of William Wilkins (the rebuilding of 1816–18) and Lewis Vulliamy (the enlargement of 1845–48). Wilkins adopted an East Anglian Tudor Gothic style of great picturesqueness and the project retained parts of the medieval house; however Vulliamy's enlargement involved the removal of what remained of the medieval house.

Gardens

Tregothnan is famous for its large private botanical garden and

arboretum An arboretum (plural: arboreta) in a general sense is a botanical collection composed exclusively of trees of a variety of species. Originally mostly created as a section in a larger garden or park for specimens of mostly non-local species, man ...

, which are not open to the public. Guided visits to the garden may be arranged. A tea plantation was started on the grounds in 1999. Tregothnan was home to the first outdoor '' camellias'' in the UK, around 1800. The first commercial tea was developed from ''

Camellia sinensis ''Camellia sinensis'' is a species of evergreen shrub or small tree in the flowering plant family Theaceae. Its leaves and leaf buds are used to produce the popular beverage, tea. Common names include tea plant, tea shrub, and tea tree (not to ...

'', the "Chinese tea plant", in 2001. The first 'English tea' was then sold in November 2005 to Fortnum & Mason of

Piccadilly Piccadilly () is a road in the City of Westminster, London, to the south of Mayfair, between Hyde Park Corner in the west and Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is part of the A4 road that connects central London to Hammersmith, Earl's Court, ...

. The Tregothnan Estate plans on marketing a brand-named tea house franchise called Festival of Tea, to be opened as far afield as

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. The first tea plants were established in the Kitchen Garden in 1999 although the conditions there were not suitable for expansion. Research was undertaken b
Jonathon Jones
MD of Trading and

botanist Botany, also called , plant biology or phytology, is the science of plant life and a branch of biology. A botanist, plant scientist or phytologist is a scientist who specialises in this field. The term "botany" comes from the Ancient Greek wo ...

, on-site and in every tea region of the world with the support of a Nuffield Scholarship. Over 20,000 additional tea bushes are planted annually between April and October. The Tregothnan microclimate is the result of the 60 feet (18 metre) deep sea water

creek A creek in North America and elsewhere, such as Australia, is a stream that is usually smaller than a river. In the British Isles it is a small tidal inlet. Creek may also refer to: People * Creek people, also known as Muscogee, Native Americans ...

that bisects the tea gardens, six miles inland and away from salt wind exposure. Global media interest in the project to create the most British tea in history has helped develop the charity open weekend of the gardens into possibly the largest of its kind in the world. There are custom-made bee hives among ''

Leptospermum ''Leptospermum'' is a genus of shrubs and small trees in the myrtle family Myrtaceae commonly known as tea trees, although this name is sometimes also used for some species of ''Melaleuca''. Most species are endemic to Australia, with the greate ...

'' "Manuka bushes" producing Manuka honey with measurable methylglyoxal content.Tregothnan first grew ''Leptospermum'' in the botanical collection in the 1880s and may have helped introduce the genus to the UK in its Wardian Case, thought to be the only surviving example of a Wardian Case in the World. The extensive garden is usually open for a weekend in the spring and has become a major fundraising event for charities.

References

External links

* {{Cornwall, state=collapsed Country houses in Cornwall Gardens in Cornwall Grade I listed buildings in Cornwall Grade I listed houses Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Cornwall Lewis Vulliamy buildings Boscawen family