A living legacy
- 3 days ago
- 7 min read
Updated: 1 hour ago
Words by Jilly Easterby
Trevince: growing towards the future.
The owners of a country estate at the heart of Cornwall’s historic mining district, with a lineage that can be traced back to medieval times, are opening their gardens to the public to share how a new kind of horticultural legacy is being created.
As soon as you enter the gateway to Trevince, its deep-rooted sense of history is palpable. The estate’s mature woodland and atmospheric Walled Garden have developed over many centuries, and its imposing parkland continues to evolve under the guardianship of Trish and Richard Stone, who are welcoming visitors to experience the joys of this heritage landscape as it undergoes a period of change.
Trevince was first recorded as a dwelling in 1281 and Richard’s ancestors have resided here ever since. In the reign of Henry VIII, Margaret Trevyns, the daughter and heiress of Henry Trefyns, married Martin Beauchamp. His dynasty descended through a further 13 generations in Cornwall from Hugh Beauchamp who was lord of Binnerton, between Helston and Camborne, in 1195. Although the house dates from the late 17th century, its front aspect was redesigned for Richard’s great-great-grandfather, Edmund Beauchamp Beauchamp (EBB), in the 1860s by renowned architect, James Piers St Aubyn. It was built by the Olver family, who were farming tenants at the time and remain so to this day. The importance of continuity, respect for the past and always looking to the future are unbreakable threads at Trevince.
The Walled Garden was established in the 18th century, not only to provide essential edibles for the house and wider estate community, but also to showcase the area’s mild climate and potential for growing exotics in its mineral-rich earth. Pineapples and grapes were plentiful here and in 1835, The Gardener’s Magazine noted that “handsome oranges were grown in the open air without protection.”
Citrus fruits have been grown continuously and the lemon and mandarin orange hybrid – the Meyer lemon – that was planted in a glasshouse in the 1980s by Richard’s mother, Vanessa, is still hugely productive, in flower or fruit for ten months of the year. Some species will be transferred outdoors in 2026 to assess how they might fare in today’s Cornish climate with its floods, droughts and gale-force winds.
When you step into the Walled Garden, it feels different. The air is warmer and a state of calm pervades the exuberant growth of the cutting garden and herb bed. Head Gardener, Colin Skelly, utilises no-dig system beds, feeding the ground with compost created on site, and cultivation, using green manures to maintain soil health in larger areas. “Alongside the traditional crops that you might expect to see, we are growing perennial vegetables and fruits, such as Mexican tomatillos, Mediterranean cardoons, Japanese wineberries, Chinese kumquats, Chilean guava and physalis from the Americas, not only to expand the range of crops we grow but also the ways in which we grow them,” explains Colin.
Top Left: Edmund Beauchamp Beauchamp (EBB) | Top Right: Tools in the Walled Garden | Bottom: Trevince
In the 1930s, EBB’s son, Charles Beauchamp, established a commercial market garden in the Walled Garden, from which flowers and vegetables were dispatched to London’s Covent Garden by train, even during World War II. Traces of this horticultural heritage can still be seen in the surviving rows of Amaryllis belladonna that flower abundantly in late summer. “We have moved away from the intensive production of the past, which relied on the routine spraying of pesticides and copious use of chemical fertilisers, and are now growing crops by focusing on soil health and creating a thriving garden ecosystem,” Colin adds.
Today, Trevince employs a smaller workforce to tend its Walled Garden, ably supplemented by a valued group of green-fingered volunteers and a trainee, Tamsyn, from the Work and Retrain as a Gardener Scheme (WRAGS) that provides paid, part-time practical training under instruction. “We take delight in helping the gardeners of the future to gain the valuable experience they need to embark on horticultural careers,” says Colin.
The Walled Garden follows an age-old rhythm as the seasons progress. Winter is the time for harvesting the last leeks and Brussels sprouts of the year. A quiet sense of expectancy heralds the preparation of the beds for the coming season. Crops sown in early spring and the cut flowers that provide a vibrant pop of colour are soon joined by the exquisite blossom of the fruit trees, when the risk of a late frost is past. The luxuriant growth of June simultaneously gladdens the heart and keeps many hands busy – a feast for the eyes as well as the appetite. Summer heat contrasts with the coolness of the shade and promises a plentiful harvest. The mellowness of autumn then descends, the weather turns and the cycle begins anew.
“The Walled Garden already hums with pollinators visiting the cut flower beds, trained fruit trees and ornamental displays but we are taking a further step in revamping these beds to pack an even greater punch,” adds Colin. “From its beginnings at the Eden Project, I have supported Pollinator Pathmaker, an artwork by Alexandra Daisy Ginsberg Studios that explores the question of what people would see if pollinators designed gardens. In 2026, we plan to devote one of the beds to this project, which uses an algorithmically-generated planting design to support a wide range of pollinating species.”
Top Left: The Walled Garden in April | Top Right: Richard Stone in the Wilderness
Middle: Late spring colour in the Wilderness Bottom Left: Head Gardener, Colin Skelly, in the potting shed | Bottom Right: The Walled Garden in August
Below the Walled Garden is the Wilderness, the backbone of which comprises venerable oaks. Richard’s grandfather, Howard Beauchamp, planted a collection of large-leaved rhododendrons here in the 1960s and 1970s, adding to the azaleas and camellias of the mid-Victorian period. This century’s removal of invasive Rhododendron ponticum has created new opportunities. “With a nod to Cornwall’s plant-hunting past, we are adding many more shrubs from around the world as we explore the boundaries of what a conventional Cornish spring garden could evolve into for the future,” explains Richard. “The Shrubbery is no longer dominated by the evergreen aucuba – the spotted laurel that was so admired by the Victorians. We are digging into new possibilities and experimenting with our planting to find new species that will not only endure but enhance the estate by adding elements of playfulness and surprise.”
Trials include Temu cruckshanksii, a type of myrtle that is native to Chile, which has smooth, cinnamon-coloured bark, dark green leaves and scented white flowers, and Schefflara taiwaniana from East Asia, with its glossy, evergreen foliage and purple berries for winter interest. Gunnera killipiana from Mexico forms an upright, trunk-like structure, unlike the familiar spreading variety that traditionally grows in Cornwall. This global outlook underpins Trevince’s story, situated as it is at the heart of the historic tin and copper mining area of Gwennap, which is a designated Cornish Mining World Heritage Site.
In the early 19th century, part of the parish was described as “the richest square mile in the Old World”. As owners of both land and minerals, Richard’s forebears played an important role in the mining industry of the area. An echo of this industrial past is the leat, a ditch that borders one side of the Wilderness, the remnant of a bygone watercourse that began at Carn Marth, ran for several miles and powered the tin stamps at Bissoe, which crushed the mined ore. A 19th-century photograph shows that, as this leat traversed the Wilderness, it was reimagined as an ornamental stream. Whilst the opportunity to revive a running water feature for its full length may have passed, the potential to reinstate a small section remains.
As professional archaeologists prior to taking on the custodianship of Trevince 20 years ago, excavating and preserving the treasures of the past run deep within Trish and Richard’s DNA, but like previous generations before them, they also recognise and embrace the need for reinvention as well as the inexorable inevitability of change. The work begun by Vanessa to enhance the Wilderness with the planting of conifers as part of the International Conifer Conservation Programme (ICCP), founded by Richard’s uncle, Chris Page, and run by him at the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) continues to yield results.
Top: The rare Legrandia concinna
Above: Wineberries in the Walled Garden
The Chinese native Pinus armandii, which is classed as a threatened species, has grown to maturity and been successfully propagated at Trevince to form a living seed bank for future generations. The King Billy Pine, or Athrotaxis selaginoides, a vulnerable species from Tasmania, is thriving as part of this conservation programme too. “Further additions will be planted over the coming years, and we have recently taken delivery of some very interesting specimens including podocarpus species, to add to the Chilean native P. salignus already here, as well as a rare Legrandia concinna with its attractive reddish-brown bark and delicate white flowers,” explains Richard. “We are also supplementing our ageing oaks and beeches with a richer variety of genus and species, adapting to the challenges of a changing climate and the increasing threats of pests and diseases by diversifying our trees. A century and more into the future, these new plantings will mature to become our horticultural legacy.”
As well as new introductions, a timeless understory of spring bulbs provides a changing colour palette – the pristine white of snowdrops, the yolky yellows of Cornish daffodils, the hazy blue of native English bluebells and the pink perfection of abundant apple blossom. In autumn, the focus shifts to the first camellias, like C. japonica ‘Nobilissima’, to flower from November when, depending on the weather, there may even be a few blooms on Rhododendron arboreum ‘Cornish Red’. Winter may adopt a slower tempo, but in Trevince’s mild microclimate, roses and raspberries can be gathered into December, memorably once on Christmas Day.
“We welcome everyone to experience Trevince as the promise of spring turns to the bloom of summer, and where we garden for food, fun and the future,” adds Richard. “Bring your friends, bring your dog, take a stroll and just enjoy it. Be part of our unfolding story and share our vision for the future of this enduring place.”
Trevince Estate Gardens and Cart Shed Café will be open from 27th March to 27th September on Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays and Bank Holiday Mondays between 10am and 4pm. Regular talks and demonstrations, as well as occasional music and theatre events, will take place throughout the season.
