Tregrehan, St. Austell, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest.

Mid 19th century gardens and pleasure grounds designed by W A Nesfield together with significant 19th and 20th century plant collections, set in 18th and 19th century parkland.

DESCRIPTION

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM, SETTING

Tregrehan is situated about 4 kilometres east of St Austell and about 1 kilometre west of the hamlet of St Blazey Gate, to the north of the A390 St Austell Road. The site, occupying about 45 hectares, comprises some 8 hectares of formal gardens and informal pleasure grounds, and about 37 hectares of parkland. The site is bounded to the south by the A390 St Austell Road which leads east from St Austell to Lostwithiel, while to the west the boundary is formed by a minor road which leads north from the A390 road to Tregrehan Mills. To the north-west the site adjoins domestic properties which abut this minor road, and to the north the boundary is formed by a further minor road which leads east from Tregrehan Mills to Ashcombe. To the north-east a footpath and track leading south-east to St Blazey Gate forms the boundary of the site; the 1" Ordnance Survey map of 1810 shows this path as a road. To the east the site adjoins the gardens and grounds of properties in St Blazey Gate. An avenue and associated drive extend south from the site beyond the A390 road towards Carlyon Bay. The site occupies a ridge of high ground which extends south from the northern boundary to the site of the house; from the house the ground falls to the south towards the A390 road, and west and east to small streams which flow in valleys near the west and east boundaries of the site. There are extensive views south, west, and east from the house across the park, those to the south extending to Carlyon Bay. To the east, the spire of the mid 19th century church at St Blazey Gate acts as an eyecatcher from the pleasure grounds.

REFERENCES

S Shaw, A Tour to the West of England (1788)

C S Gilbert, Historical Survey of Cornwall ii, (1820), p 872

E Twycross, The Mansions of England ... Cornwall (1846), p 47

Lake's Parochial History of Cornwall i, (1867), p 60

Royal Botanic Gardens, Bulletin of Miscellaneous Information (1916), p xxv

Gardeners' Chronicle, ii (1939), p 120

N Pevsner and E Radcliffe, The Buildings of England: Cornwall (2nd edn 1970), p 224

The Field, (24 August 1985), pp 51-52

Tregrehan: A Guide, guidebook, (Tregrehan 1985)

Tregrehan Garden, guidebook, (Tregrehan 1991)

Tregrehan, A Restoration/Management Plan, (G R Pring Associates 1992)

Maps

W Doidge, A Plan of the land belonging to the Honble Richard Edgcumbe lying in Tregrehan ..., 1736 (DD/ME 2367), (Cornwall Record Office)

W Hole and A Law, A Map or Plan of the Manor of Tregrehan, 1775(6 (DD/ME 2368/1(4), (Cornwall Record Office)

Tithe map for St Blazey parish, 1839 (Cornwall Record Office)

W A Nesfield, Plans for the forecourt and parterre terrace, 1843 (private collection)

OS Old Series 1" to 1 mile, published 1810

OS 6" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1881

2nd edition published 1906

OS 25" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 188)

Archival items

Carlyon family archive including garden and estate accounts, correspondence, nursery accounts (DD/CN), (Cornwall Record Office)

The Carlyon papers, including diaries and planting records, are held in a private collection.

Aerial photographs of Tregrehan from the south-west, 1938 (reproduced in Pring Associates 1992)

Photographs of the parterre terrace, forecourt, pleasure grounds and walled garden, 1930s (reproduced in Pring Associates 1992)

Description written: November 2000

Amended: January 2001

Edited: October 2001