Trevarno Estate and Gardens

Head Gardener's Comment

The gardens at Trevarno are at the very centre of the estate and the gardens and surrounding grounds feature one of Cornwall's largest and most diverse plant collections.

There is a mixture of informal and formal areas including a stunning bluebell valley, Victorian Boathouse, Lake and formal cascade, Italian Garden, Serpentine Yew Tunnel and an extensive Pinetum where many of the trees were planted (over 30,000) by William Bickford-Smith in 1883.

Added last year on our Estate Walk route is a field with a "host of golden daffodils" flowering mid December to mid May. This year these will be doubled as part of the establishment of a National Daffodil Collection.

History

Trevarno estate dates back to 1246 when it was owned by Randolphus de Trevarno and over the centuries has been owned by many notable families including the Arundells from the mid fifteen hundreds for two hundred years. At one stage it was also owned by a Mr Oliver who was the father of Dr "Bath" Oliver - yes buscuits fame! In 1874 the estate was purchased by the Bickford-Smith family who made their money from the creation of the Miner's Safety Fuse. The Bickford-Smith were here for 4 generations and they are the ones behind the wonderful Victorian Gardens. In 1994 the Estate, now consisting of over 750 acres including 70 acres of woodland and 35 acres of garden along with the house was purchased by an electronics company. In 1998 Trevarno opened to the public on a daily basis and has gone from stength to strength, still keeping the Victorian feel.