history of trevarno
Trevarno can be traced back to 1245 and has been owned by a number of notable families over the centuries including the Arundels for about 200 years from 1570. In 1874 the estate, then consisting of around 1,000 acres was sold to the Bickford-Smith family, whose ancestor William Bickford created the Miners Safety Fuse.
In 1994 Trevarno was put up for sale for the first time in 120 years and split into 33 lots to make the disposal more manageable.
At the time my partner Nigel Helsby and I were looking for a country house surrounded by a few acres to use as company headquarters. After viewing Trevarno we were filled with an overwhelming passion to save the estate from being broken up and to restore the buildings, gardens, farms and cottages. After purchasing all 33 lots, the magnitude of the task ahead started to become clear. With approaching 750 acres to deal with, we decided to start at the centre and work out. It also became obvious that maintaining the estate in its current condition would be a major ongoing expense, to undertake a comprehensive long-term restoration plan would require colossal resources.
During 1995, we formulated a restoration plan together with an estate regeneration programme comprising a range of projects which would generate additional income to fund restoration work. The overriding ethos, particularly for generating income, was that all activities must be sensitive to Trevarno and the local environment, and any items offered for sale should be grown, designed, manufactured or produced at Trevarno or directly influenced by the gardens and grounds. In other words, avoid at all costs the “soft option” of promoting a range of third party souvenirs, which have no connection or relevance to Trevarno. Other aims were the creation of new and sustainable jobs and the development of rural crafts within a thriving community on the estate. In this way we plan to demonstrate that a traditional country estate can be viable and vibrant in the 21st Century.
Following detailed and lengthy discussions with the planning authority to resolve a range of delicate issues, work started during the summer of 1996 to provide the basic infrastructure necessary to open the gardens to visitors. Highway improvements and woodland clearance along the entrance roads, car parking, new exit route and toilet facilities were all completed that year. During 1997 we concentrated on the main gardens and grounds which would become a focal point for visitors. A great deal of basic clearance work was necessary including the removal of dangerous or fallen trees (one vast beech tree which had recently fallen into the lake took five men and an array of machinery five weeks to clear!) The lake was partially drained so that several hundred tonnes of silt below the cascade could be removed. In parallel with this work the design and construction of the Fountain Garden Conservatory was started and completed by the end of 1997 . By early 1998 we were ready to start new planting in the conservatory and a few areas of the garden in time for our formal opening in March 1998.
Although a great deal of effort has been directed at the gardens and infrastructure we have also made progress on a number of new projects, in particular a unique Gardening Museum . Because the interest and support for this project has been overwhelming, we decided to establish Britain ’s first National Museum of Gardening in a new and much larger purpose designed building, which opened to the public at Easter 2001. This project was a culmination of more than 6 years planning and research. The museum has been arranged in ten themed areas and our aim is to inform, amaze, amuse and inspire those with a casual or committed interest in gardens and gardening.
Later, the nostalgic Colin Gregory Vintage Toy Collection was added and in late 2003 we added the nostalgic Soap Collection linking with the Trevarno Soap and Skincare Workshops.
In the last two years work in the garden has really moved on, as you will see on the later pages “Today’s projects”. Much work has also gone into promoting Trevarno, to locals and visitors alike, by more events, functions and advertising. We were very pleased in October 2006, to receive a Silver Award in the South West Tourism “Oscars” Visitor Attraction section, only beaten by SS Great Britain, and, later in November we received a Bronze in the Cornwall Tourism “Oscars”.
Earlier in 2006, we became one of the approved sites, as part of the World Mining Heritage sites for Cornwall and West Devon , in relation to our connection to the Bickford-Smiths. For more details about the WHS, press the link button (?)
Mike Sagin
Managing Director 2007