Community Projects

At the heart of our work is our mission to preserve our surroundings for future generations and this applies across the Estate from land and property management to sustainable product development.

The Estate has a number of SSSI’s (Site of Special Scientific Interest), SACs (Special Areas of Conservation), AONB’s (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty) and World Heritage Sites. These are maintained in collaboration with Natural England. Areas such as Goonhilly Downs, Kynance Cove, Kennack Sands, Goss Moor and Lizard Peninsula are all parts of Cornwall where we have an interest in promoting sustainable access and the preservation of nature.

The Estate is a long standing (nearly 30yrs) member of Cornwall Wildlife Trust and in 2016 won a prestigious European award, beating entrants from 19 countries to be recognised as the best at ‘Creating a Positive Rural Environment’.

The rich mining history on the Estate is being preserved as part of the Cornish Mining Heritage with the help of Heritage England. Sites are being rebuilt not only for historical preservation but to provide useful community space: At Wheal Busy a newly restored engine house will now provide important workspace for vulnerable adults with learning difficulties.

Conservation projects include tree planting schemes which have a community benefit; Local Cornish primary schools at Gerrans and Chacewater have taken part in the creation of outdoor classrooms involving tree planting and can now monitor and study the trees’ growth from sapling to maturity.

Charity Garden Opening

Our biggest Community event is the annual Charity Garden Opening. Over the last five years the Estate has raised over £200,000 for various charities, many of which have been local where the money raised can have a huge impact on their cause. Again our dedicated employees, family, friends and tenants volunteer for a whole weekend to provide 5,000 visitors with a garden visit they’ll never forget. Not to mention hundreds of cakes baked by our volunteers to give those 5,000 visitors afternoon tea! The picture below shows the cheque presentation to the St. Petroc’s Society of £50,000 raised at our Open Garden Weekend 2017. The donation was accepted by St. Petroc’s CEO, Steve Ellis, who said the money raised would help to give shelter to all of Cornwall’s homeless people during the winter.

Find out more about our Charity Garden Opening.