Trengwainton

Trengwainton is a spectacular garden in the Penzance region positioned overlooking Mount’s Bay, with fantastic views of St. Michael’s Mount and the Lizard Peninsula. Trengwainton is the Cornish name for “the settlement of spring” as the warm Gulf currents and sheltered environment make it perfect for cultivating a wide variety of plants.

The garden consists of a long and thin 98 acres full of Rhododendrons, Camellias, and Azaleas flanking the drive that leads up to the house. There are also running streams and still ponds, as well as a series of walled gardens housing a variety of unique plants and vegetable crops.

There has been a dwelling at Trengwainton since the 16^th century, and the estate belonged to the respected Cornish family Arundell during the 18^th century. In 1814, Rose Price, son of wealthy Jamaican sugar planter purchased the estate. He was soon made a baronet and began to make improvements to the house. He also began planting trees on a considerable scale and built the brick-walled gardens with their unusual sloping beds for growing food crops. The year after his death, William Wilburforce’s Emancipation Act freed the slaves working his Jamaican plantation. Since this was his only source of income, Price’s heirs were force to sell Trengwainton to pay off his debts.

T.S. Bolithos, a wealthy banker and descendent of an ancient Cornish family, bought the property in 1867. Several generations later, Sir Edward Bolitho was the first to truly transform the gardens along with his head gardener Alfred Creek. Three great Cornish plantsmen (JC Williams of Caerhays, PD Williams of Lanarth, and Canon AT Boscawen of Ludgvan) helped his efforts with advice and gifts of Rhododendrons and other shrubs.

In 1926, GH Johnstone of Trewithen and Lawrence Johnston of Hidecote Manor offered Bolitho a share in Frank Kingdon-Ward’s 1927-1928 plant-hunting expedition to north-east Assam and the Mishmi Hills in upper Burma. The seed collected from this trip provided much of the new plant material for Trengwainton, and it was through the skill of the head gardener (Creek) that these tender seedlings were raised to specimen quality. Rhododendron macabeanum, R. elliottii, R. taggianum, and R. concatenans flowered for the first time on the British Isles at Trengwainton.