Trengwainton Garden

Last updated

Trengwainton Gardens
Pond, Trengwainton.JPG
Cornwall UK location map.svg
Red pog.svg
General information
TypeCountry House (private) and National Trust Garden
Location Madron, Cornwall
Town or city Penzance
CountryEngland
Coordinates 50°07′43″N5°34′28″W / 50.1285°N 5.5745°W / 50.1285; -5.5745
Current tenants Colonel Edward Thomas Bolitho

Trengwainton (Cornish : Tredhigwenton, meaning farm of eternal springtime) [1] is a garden situated in Madron, near Penzance, Cornwall, England, UK, which has been in the ownership of the National Trust since 1961. The garden is noted for its collection of exotic trees and shrubs and offers views over Mount's Bay and The Lizard. The house is not open to the public.

Contents

History

First mentioned in 1319 as Trethigwaynton, the name comes from the Cornish language gwenton (springtime). [2] The current dwelling has been on the site since at least the 16th century and was altered and extended in the 18th and 19th centuries. The house is a grade II listed building. [3] The walled garden, which was built in Elizabethan times, seems to have been constructed as a response to the period of persistently cooler weather known as the Maunder Minimum. The wall prevented warm air from escaping from the garden on cool nights, thereby allowing frost-sensitive fruit trees to survive, despite the cooling climate. [4]

In 1814 the estate was bought by Rose Price the son of a Jamaican sugar plantation owner. Trengwainton was sold following the loss of income resulting from the 1833 Emancipation Act which freed slaves on the family's Worthy Estate in Jamaica. In 1867 the property was bought by Thomas Simon Bolitho. [5] In 1877 it was inherited by his son Thomas Robins Bolitho. [5] He extended it with several rooms in 1880; and in 1925 he bequeathed it to his nephew, Edward Hoblyn Warren Bolitho. [5] Rose Price planted trees and built the walled gardens, which are said to be based on the dimensions of Noah's Ark, and in 1925 Edward Bolitho and his head gardener Alfred Creek continued the development of the garden. They were opened to the public, for the first time, in 1931. The Victoria Medal of Honour for Horticulture was awarded to Edward in 1961 and in the same year he donated 98 acres to the National Trust, [6] who also acquired the house, "with provision for the family to remain in residence" [5] [7]

Speed Hill Climb

Held bi-annually, each Easter Monday and August Bank Holiday, from 1946 until 1974, the Trengwainton Speed Hill Climb (grid reference SW443311 ) was an event organised by the West Cornwall Motor Club. The aim of the climb was for a car, motorbike, or a motorbike and sidecar to ascend the twisting course, from a standing start, as quickly as possible. Fastest times recorded include 21.79 seconds by Roy Opie of Stithians on an Ariel 500 and 22.34 seconds by WC Cuff in a Cooper-Daimler. The event regularly attracted 2,000 spectators. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chûn Castle</span> Iron Age hillfort in Cornwall, England

Chûn Castle is a large Iron Age hillfort (ringfort) near Penzance in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. The fort was built about 2,500 years ago, and fell into disuse until the early centuries AD when it was possibly re-occupied to protect the nearby tin mines. It stands beside a prehistoric trackway that was formerly known as the Old St Ives Road and the Tinners’ Way. The name Chûn derives from Cornish: Chi an Woon. The area is now sometimes known as Chûn Downs. Nearby is Chûn Quoit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Penzance</span> Town in Cornwall, England

Penzance is a town, civil parish and port in the Penwith district of Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is the most westerly major town in Cornwall and is about 64 miles (103 km) west-southwest of Plymouth and 255 miles (410 km) west-southwest of London. Situated in the shelter of Mount's Bay, the town faces south-east onto the English Channel, is bordered to the west by the fishing port of Newlyn, to the north by the civil parish of Madron and to the east by the civil parish of Ludgvan. The civil parish includes the town of Newlyn and the villages of Mousehole, Paul, Gulval, and Heamoor. Granted various royal charters from 1512 onwards and incorporated on 9 May 1614, it has a population of 21,200.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madron</span> Human settlement in England

Madron is a civil parish and village in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Madron is named after Saint Madern's Church. Its annual Trafalgar Service commemorating the death of Vice Admiral Horatio Nelson was started on 27 October 1946, following a local tradition that his death was first announced on British soil in the Union Hotel, Penzance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sancreed</span> Human settlement in England

Sancreed is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, approximately three miles (5 km) west of Penzance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Gulval</span> Village in Cornwall, England

Gulval is a village in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. Although historically a parish in its own right, Gulval was incorporated into the parishes of Ludgvan, Madron and Penzance in 1934, and is now considered to be a suburb of Penzance. Gulval still maintains its status as an ecclesiastical parish and parts of the village church date back to the 12th-century. Together with Heamoor, Gulval still retains its status as an electoral ward. The ward population at the 2011 census was 4,185.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Heamoor</span> Village in Cornwall, England

Heamoor is a village in Cornwall, England. Formerly a secondary settlement of the village of Madron, Heamoor is situated approximately one-and-a half kilometres northwest of Penzance town centre.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chyandour</span>

Chyandour is a small settlement within the town of Penzance in west Cornwall, United Kingdom. It is on the north-east edge of the town straddling the A30 trunk road. The Chyandour Brook rises near Carfury and flows into Mount's Bay at Chyandour. Before 1934 Chyandour was in the parish of Madron and was the site of a large tin smelting works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wherrytown</span>

Wherrytown is a small settlement in west Cornwall, United Kingdom, on the east side of the Laregan River, between Newlyn and Penzance. It was formerly in the civil parish of Madron and was incorporated into the Borough of Penzance in 1934 when local government was reorganised.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kerris</span> Human settlement in England

Kerris is a settlement in west Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is three miles (5 km) south-west of Penzance in the civil parish of Paul. Kerris means "fort-place" in the Cornish language.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Morrab Library</span> Library in Cornwall, England

The Morrab Library is an independent library based in Penzance, Cornwall in the UK.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Crowan</span> Village and parish in Cornwall, England

Crowan is a village and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is about three-and-a-half miles (6 km) south of Camborne. A former mining parish, all of the mines had shut by 1880.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Williams family of Caerhays, Burncoose and Scorrier</span>

The Williams family of Caerhays, Burncoose and Scorrier were owners of mines and smelting works for several generations during the Cornish Industrial Revolution. A branch of the family settled in Port Hope, Ontario.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Maddern's Church, Madron</span> Church in Madron, England

St Maddern's Church is the parish church of Madron, near Penzance in Cornwall and was once the mother church of Morvah and Penzance. It is a Grade I listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Little Bosullow</span> Human settlement in England

Little Bosullow is a hamlet in the civil parish of Madron, Cornwall, England, UK. Great Bosullow is to the west, Bosullow is on the B3312 Madron to Morvah road and Bosullow Common is to the north.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edward Bolitho</span>

Colonel Sir Edward Thomas Bolitho is a former British Army officer, who serves as Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall since 2011.

Sir Edward Hoblyn Warren Bolitho was a Cornish landowner and politician. He was Chairman of Cornwall County Council from 1941 to 1952 and Lord Lieutenant of Cornwall from 1936 to 1962, for some years serving in both roles simultaneously.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Thomas Bedford Bolitho</span> British banker and industrialist

Thomas Bedford Bolitho was a British banker and industrialist. He was a Liberal Unionist Member of Parliament for St Ives in Cornwall from 1887 to 1900.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel</span> Ruined medieval chapel in England

Madron Well and Madron Well Chapel is a scheduled Ancient Monument in the civil parish of Madron, Cornwall, UK.

Thomas Robins Bolitho (1840–1925) was a Cornish banker and landowner who served as High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1890.

Sir Rose Price, 1st Baronet was a British baronet, plantation owner and Cornish landowner.

References

  1. ↑ "Cornish Language Partnership: Place names". cornwall.gov.uk. Retrieved 21 July 2019.
  2. ↑ Weatherhill, Craig (2017). The place-names of the Land's End : Cornwall. Penwith Press. ISBN   9781999777500.
  3. ↑ "Trengwainton House". English Heritage. Retrieved 28 May 2013.
  4. ↑ Tim Ball, "Environment Canada and the UN(IPCC) ignore major climate change mechanism," in The Landowner, August–September, 2012, p. 41.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Historic England. "Trengwainton, Madron (1000657)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 4 December 2018.
  6. ↑ National Trust celebrates its 50 years at 'gem' of a garden. The Cornishman. p18, 21 July 2011
  7. ↑ "Madron". The Cornishman. No. 89. 25 March 1880. p. 4.
  8. ↑ Rowe, Ivan (16 May 2013). "Trengwainton Speed Hill Climb". The Cornishman. p. 24.

Further reading

Trengwainton Garden, Cornwall. The National Trust. 2003.
Trengwainton (National Trust Guidebooks). The History Press Ltd. 1999. ISBN   978-1-84359-076-7.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Trengwainton Garden at Wikimedia Commons

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.