A Potted History of Tregothnan
The House at the Head of the Valley
There has been a house and garden at Tregothnan for a very long time. When John de Boscawen Ros of St. Buryan Parish married the heiress Johan de Tregothnan in 1335, he moved his home from the Penzance area to Tregothnan, where his descendants still live. The Tregothnan coat of arms is set over the front door; 'Tregothnan' translated from Cornish means 'The House at the Head of the Valley.'
The original house, in Plantagenet times, lay to the northwest of the present terrace, where a number of ilexes now grow. It was a two-storeyed building with a battlemented tower containing an arched doorway. Only the old doorway remains - at the entrance of the present kitchen garden. The original house was 'sacked' in the Civil War, and the present house dates from the time of the Protectorate, as confirmed by the date, 1652, carved in stone over the side door.
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The entrance to Kitchen Garden is the only surviving part of the original house and dates back to Plantagenet times. Beyond it the original Camellia sinensis (or tea plant) still grow today.
In 1811, Humphry Repton, Norfolkman and landscape designer, reported to Lord Falmouth that the floors of the house had dry rot and were giving way. His report contained plans for rebuilding the house and landscaping the grounds.
Repton died in 1818 and it was another Norfolkman, William Wilkins, who became the architect enlarging the house in the 1820s. Wilkins had a stream of architectural successes to his name including the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square, the improvements to King's College and new buildings at Downing College, Cambridge. Under his direction, the 1652 manor house was refaced, re-roofed and embodied in the new and enlarged Tregothnan family home.
The house stands today much as Wilkins intended. Tregothnan, home to the Boscawen Family and seat of the Viscounts Falmouth since 1335, remains a real working estate.
Mounted to the rear terrace of the house are Admiral The Hon. Edward Boscawen’s cannons, a tribute to the great Cornish Admiral’s victories over the French during the Seven Years War (1756-1763). The cannons were cast at John Fuller’s famous foundry in Heathfield, Sussex in the eighteenth century, and his initial ‘F’ can be seen on a trunnion on each gun. Admiral Boscawen is buried at the nearby church of St Michael Penkivel which also contains his memorial, designed by Robert Adam.
Today Tregothnan is home to The Honourable Evelyn and Mrs Boscawen and their family.
