Project

Transforming Trelissick

Illustration of proposed design of new walled garden at Trelissick — An artist's impression of the restored walled garden and terrace at Trelissick | © National Trust Trelissick

Set on its own peninsula, with panoramic views over the Fal estuary, Trelissick is a much-loved destination both for local people and those visiting Cornwall from further afield. We're working to deliver a series of improvements across the estate to meet the growing needs of the communities we serve. Find out how these plans will celebrate Trelissick’s past, protect nature and help people to feel part of this special place.

Our vision for Trelissick

Trelissick is an historic estate that connects its visitors with nature, beauty and history. Over the next 3 years we will be opening up more of the estate for people to access; creating habitats for wildlife; restoring the historic walled garden and improving visitor facilities to provide a more welcoming experience for Trelissick’s growing number of visitors.

Restoring the walled garden

At its heart, Trelissick has a large two-acre walled garden, once famed as the ‘fruit garden of Cornwall’. For decades this former kitchen garden has sat dormant and inaccessible. Now we have the chance to breathe new life back into this space.

Over the next two to three years we will be restoring Trelissick’s walled garden to a hub of horticultural excellence once again - growing an impressive array of traditional and exotic fruits. We also want the garden to help to inspire gardeners, showcase sustainable gardening practices, and pass horticultural expertise from generation to generation.

For generations this garden fed a family and its surrounding community. Once restored visitors will be able to savour equally exquisite flavours, fresh from the tree and ground. Soil is the elixir of life, often today we take it for granted. In the walled garden we’ll showcase the abundance it can produce, when it is treasured.

A quote by John LanyonNational Trust Head Gardener at Trelissick

An aerial artist's impression of the restored walled garden at Trelissick | © National Trust

Supporters of the walled garden restoration project

We’d like to thank those individuals who have contributed to the walled garden restoration project so far. As a charity, we depend on donations to help us carry out vital conservation work and revive special places like Trelissick. Please consider supporting us by making an online donation at the link below.

Donate

A woman walks her dog in though woods at Trelissick in autumn — Autumn walks at Trelissick | © National Trust Images/Hilary Daniel

Opening up the northern part of the estate

We want to ‘reunite’ the whole Trelissick estate, allowing our visitors to move more freely across it and enjoy Trelissick’s wonderful location.

Over the next two to three years we will be restoring the woodland pasture in the north of the estate which is an area currently unexplored by many of our visitors.

As we work restore the woodland and wildlife habitats here, we will also be increasing and improving the path networks and access to this part of the estate, providing more choice and more space for visitors to Trelissick.

This improved access to the North Woodland will be complemented with a new car park, toilet and temporary catering facilities, subject to planning.

Improving visitor facilities and access

Regular visitors to Trelissick will know that the car park already gets very busy at peak times. As part of our plans to provide a better welcome, and in addition to the new north woodland car park, the existing parking area will be redeveloped to improve vehicle flow and reduce queuing and congestion. New electric vehicle charge points will be installed and a new pedestrian route from the main car park, will provide a real sense of arrival at Trelissick, giving visitors the space to dwell and plan their visit.

This forms part of a wider plan to create a new visitor entrance at Trelissick, including ramped access from the car park to the main gathering area at the entrance to the formal Garden and accessible routes through the restored walled garden.

We will be instating a permissive cycle route along the traditional driveway to the main house that will provide a safe arrival for cyclists to Trelissick.

We are also delighted to be working with Good Journey on a pilot scheme to create a car alternative transport plan for Trelissick. This will help visitors to plan carless journeys by highlighting the many ways you can access Trelissick without bringing a car. A dedicated bus stop is also included in the plans.

What’s next?

Longer term we know we need to invest in the house, stables and other buildings at Trelissick to ensure they can continue to be enjoyed by visitors for generations to come.

Since we started caring for the house at Trelissick in 2013, we have been trialling and testing various visitor experiences to see what can work for everyone and have come to recognise the many ways the house and buildings remain important today, and their potential as their story evolves.

By working with our local community, partners and stakeholders we want to explore options for how the house and stables at Trelissick could be experienced in the future by visitors, potentially opening up areas currently inaccessible to the public and thinking about new ways to bring its stories to life.

We’ll continue sharing updates as the project and fundraising progresses, so keep an eye on this page and social media to find out how things are going.

Your questions answered

Year on year there has been growing visitor numbers to Trelissick. As a result, we know we need to build better facilities to cater for more people while protecting the estate, conserving the natural environment and encouraging use of more of the estate. As caretakers of this special place, we always review options to best look after Trelissick, while making sure it has the right infrastructure in place to welcome visitors long into the future.
The new car park planned for Dicky Lane is intended to provide direct access to the northern parts of Trelissick and wider countryside. The area proposed is land outside of the Grade II* listed Park & Garden, of which much of the estate is designated.

We make every effort to avoid and minimise tree & vegetation removal as much as possible, but where this cannot be avoided, we have put robust plans in place to mitigate any negative effects. Within the car park development works and North Woodland restoration and management, we have assessed an overall biodiversity net-gain of 33%. In total we will be planting over 200 new specimen trees, over 2 hectares of new woodland, and restoring nearly 20 hectares of parkland and 1 hectare of ancient woodland.
As part of our car park expansion and increasing visitor access to the north part of the estate, the Trust must ensure a safe crossing point for all visitors across the B3289. With extensive design, consultation and safety assessments we have worked with highways experts to develop a new crossing point to ensure safe access for everyone.

With the creation and separation of two car parks, visitors will be directed, and encouraged, to use either car park depending on the nature of their visit (House/Garden and Woodland/Countryside), which will reduce the potential for queuing traffic on this section of the road. Visitors will have new flexibility to explore the entire Trelissick estate if they desire - with the creation of new access across the public road, and multiple circular routes throughout the parklands and woodlands. A new cycle route through the estate will provide cyclists with an alternative to the main road making for a safer cycling experience and reducing road traffic.
As the estate becomes more joined up, new corridors will be created for wildlife. Woodland, pasture and parkland will be restored. Grassland and scrub will be sensitively managed to encourage regeneration and provide further habitats for birds and small mammals.

Within the car park development works and North Woodland restoration and management, we have assessed an overall biodiversity net-gain of 33%. The National Trust are delivering net-gains of >100 trees, 400m hedges, 35m of Cornish hedges, and >1ha of former agricultural land allocated for natural generation. We have further environmental gains to come as our plans for the whole project continue to develop - this does not yet include the restoration and planting of the walled garden.
Our new car parking plans provide green travel opportunities through the inclusion of 10 EV charging points, a dedicated bus stop, three coach parking bays and 26 cycle parking racks. A new cycle route through the estate will provide cyclists with an alternative to the main road making for a safer cycling experience and reducing road traffic. In addition, we are delighted to be part of a pilot scheme with Good Journey who will create a bespoke alternative transport plan for Trelissick showcasing the many ways of accessing the estate through non-car options.

We are trying to encourage as many people as possible to access Trelissick through sustainable travel methods in the future. We have our own carbon reduction targets within the Trust, but we know people will continue to use their cars for many years to come so unless we provide car parking while our visitor numbers continue to increase it will have a detrimental impact on the estate, our local community and road safety

Transforming Trelissick timeline so far

May 2024

Walled Garden planning submission

This May we will be submitting our plans for the restoration of the Walled Garden, the transformation of the visitor entrance and the restoration of a historic entrance point into the South Parkland from the end of The Street next to the stables and Trelissick house.