View source for Trengwainton Garden

{{Use dmy dates|date=April 2022}}
{{Infobox historic site
| name                 = Trengwainton Garden
| native_name          = Tredhigwenton
| native_language      = Cornish
| image                = Pond, Trengwainton.JPG
| caption              = 
| type                 = 
| locmapin             = Cornwall
| coordinates          = {{coord|50.1285|-5.5745}}
| location             = [[Madron]], [[Cornwall]], England
| area                 = 
| built                = 
| architect            = 
| architecture         = 
| governing_body       = 
| owner                = [[Edward Bolitho|Colonel Sir Edward Bolitho]] (house)<br>[[National Trust]] (garden)
| designation1         = Historic garden
| designation1_offname = Trengwainton
| designation1_date    = 11 June 1987
| designation1_number  = {{listed building England|1000657}}
| designation2         = Grade II
| designation2_offname = Trengwainton House
| designation2_date    = 7 September 1988
| designation2_number  = {{listed building England|1136818}}
}}
'''Trengwainton''' ({{lang-kw|Tredhigwenton}}, meaning ''farm of eternal springtime'')<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cornishplacenames.co.uk |title=Cornish Language Partnership: Place names |publisher=cornwall.gov.uk |date= |accessdate=2019-07-21}}</ref> 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.

==History==
First mentioned in 1319 as Trethigwaynton, the name comes from the [[Cornish language]] ''gwenton'' ([[Spring (season)|springtime]]).<ref name="Weatherhill, place-names">{{cite book |last1=Weatherhill |first1=Craig| author-link = Craig Weatherhill |title=The place-names of the Land's End : Cornwall. |date=2017 |publisher=Penwith Press |isbn=9781999777500}}</ref> 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]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Trengwainton House|url=http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=868165&sort=2&rational=m&recordsperpage=10&maplat=50.12826741&maplong=-5.57606942&mapisa=1000&mapist=os&mapilo=-5.5761&mapila=50.1283&mapiloe=w&mapilan=n&mapios=SW444315&mapigrn=31550&mapigre=144450&mapipc=&p=1&move=n&nor=13&recfc=0|publisher=English Heritage|accessdate=28 May 2013}}</ref> 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.<ref>Tim Ball, "Environment Canada and the UN(IPCC) ignore major climate change mechanism," in ''The Landowner'', August–September, 2012, p. 41.</ref>

In 1814 the estate was bought by [[Price Baronets|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.<ref name="Trengwainton">{{NHLE |desc=Trengwainton, Madron |num=1000657 |accessdate=4 December 2018}}</ref> In 1877 it was inherited by his son [[Thomas Robins Bolitho]].<ref name="Trengwainton" /> He  extended it with several rooms in 1880; and in 1925 he bequeathed it to his nephew, [[Edward Hoblyn Warren Bolitho]].<ref name="Trengwainton" /> 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,<ref>National Trust celebrates its 50 years at 'gem' of a garden. ''The Cornishman''. p18, 21 July 2011</ref> who also acquired the house, "with provision for the family to remain in residence"<ref name="Trengwainton" /><ref>{{cite news|title=Madron|work=The Cornishman|issue=89|date=25 March 1880|page=4}}</ref>

==Speed Hill Climb==
Held bi-annually, each Easter Monday and August Bank Holiday, from 1946 until 1974, the Trengwainton Speed Hill Climb ({{gbmapping|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 Motorcycles|Ariel 500]] and 22.34 seconds by WC Cuff in a [[Cooper Car Company|Cooper-Daimler]]. The event regularly attracted 2,000 spectators.<ref>{{cite news|last=Rowe|first=Ivan|title=Trengwainton Speed Hill Climb|newspaper=The Cornishman|date=16 May 2013|page=24}}</ref>

==References==
{{Reflist}}

==Further reading==
{{Portal|Cornwall}}
{{cite book
| last = 
| first = 
| authorlink = 
| title = Trengwainton Garden, Cornwall
| publisher= The National Trust
| location = 
| year= 2003
| isbn =
}}
<BR>
{{cite book
| last = 
| first = 
| authorlink = Ian Wright
| title = Trengwainton (National Trust Guidebooks)
| publisher= The History Press Ltd
| location = 
| year= 1999
| isbn =978-1-84359-076-7
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline}}
* [https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/trengwainton-garden Trengwainton Garden visitor information at the National Trust]
* [https://www.progcovers.com/motor/trengwainton.html Trengwainton Hill Climb Programme Covers]

{{Authority control}}

[[Category:Country houses in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Grade II listed buildings in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Gardens in Cornwall]]
[[Category:National Trust properties in Cornwall]]
[[Category:Penwith]]
[[Category:Grade II listed houses]]
[[Category:Grade II* listed parks and gardens in Cornwall]]