Penheale Manor Gardens

Savour the scents and sights of this beautiful woodland garden that envelopes a grand manor house and which opens in aid of the R.N.L.I and Egloskerry Village funds.

Enter the courtyard through a gatehouse and loggia, and you will soon find that the grandeur doesn't waiver its initial impact. Two more similar courts above the house boast pavilions at each end, and there is also a raised walk from which to view the treasures of the gardens.

This historical garden was proclaimed to be 'one of the finest and best preserved specimens of ancient manorial residences in the county' in 1867. Yet by 1920, when Colonel Norman Colville took over the estate, it was in a state of ruin. However the Colonel's admiration for Devon's Castle Drogo inspired him to engage Edwin Lutyens to restore and extend the house.

In the time since, the courtyard gardens have been extended with a square plot that has been quartered accurately into four 'rooms' surrounded by yew hedges. Along the side of the house and the width of the plot the raised walk has been constructed and lined with herbaceous borders.

Follow the steps down to Penheale's masterpiece - a long lake that mirrors the beauty of this overhanging horticultural hotspot. Its formation suggests that it may have been created out of medieval stew ponds, and it leads elegantly to a woodland rife with camellias and rhododendrons.

The formality of its squares and long axes makes this a garden totally unique to Cornwall, and worthy of exploration by any curious garden-goer. Escape in its manicured beauty, marvel in its exceptional planting or relax in the rose garden.