TRELOWARREN ESTATE

Estates and their owners come and go, but Trelowarren can point to 1, 000 years of recorded history, the last 600 years in the hands of the Vyvyan family. For Sir Ferrers Vyvyan, it remains a work in progress. "Trelowarren is living history, not corporate heritage, " he says. "We want to maintain a traditional working estate that people can share with us." And there's a lot to share: 1, 000 acres of pasture and woodland leading down to the Helford River; Rococo gardens designed by Dionysus Williams (under restoration); the Halliggye Fogou, a mysterious neolithic chamber; and back at the stable yard the superb New Yard Restaurant, the Cornwall Crafts Association main gallery, the tennis court and a swimming pool to cool off in after all that endeavour.

Adjoining the historic orchard where the houses are being built are three historic walled gardens, the first of which will be restored to its original organic garden use. The other two, though, have been redeveloped, the first as an all-weather tennis court and the second, as the main reception area, swimming pool, gym and The Walled Garden Spa. These gardens, some 12 acres, were laid out in 1758 to complement the alterations and improvements made to the house at that time. Given that they were the last major alterations to the house, these gardens are being restored to the 18th century landscape plan which Dionysus Williams drew up, and which is now preserved at the County Record Office. Pleasure grounds were a transitional form of landscape design somewhere between the Classical and Romantic. At Trelowarren, they represent the embracing of the English Landscape Movement with direct influence from the work of Alexander Pope in Twickenham, and also Ralph Allen at Prior Park, in Bath. In design, they follow the attributes of Rococo gardens: smallness of scale, regular irregularity and architectural incident. These are the aims of the restoration. The later Victorian gardens, which were planted over the original landscape, were blown down in the hurricane of 1990 and most work so far has been to re-establish tree planting in the original compartments. While initial excavations have proved the existence of the substantial terrace, the inner and outer "serpentines" (two paths which examine the beauty of different types of curve) and the foundations of some temple sites, much work, both archival and on the ground, remains to be done. In terms of planting and colour, the policy has been to return to the practice of the time which has led to the removal of all later species and hybrids - the rhododendrons, camellias and azaleas, to name but a few.