Project

Space to Grow: For people, nature and heritage

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 coming 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 coming 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

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Video

Restoring the Walled Garden at Trelissick, Cornwall

Watch our short video to find out more about how we are planning to restore the Walled Garden at Trelissick, once famed as the ‘fruit garden of Cornwall’, to a busy hub of horticultural excellence once again.

Restoring the Walled Garden at Trelissick, Cornwall

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

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

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 coming 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 to 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 the existing parking area would 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 car park would 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.

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

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.
Our plans for Trelissick are designed to ensure it is fit for the future. These include making more space for nature, improving visitor access and continuing to protect the heritage of this wonderful Cornish estate.

As part of this work, we want to redesign car parking, create a new multi-use car park that would enable us to remove the need for overflow parking on historic parkland and preserve historic buildings from car encroachment.

Our original planning application was refused earlier this year. However, we have taken time to reflect on this decision to ensure we are working towards the right balance for people, nature and heritage at Trelissick. The car parks are only the first phase in realising a wider vision and we remain confident that these plans will safeguard Trelissick’s future. Having reviewed all the information, we believe the plans deserve further consideration, and have started the process of lodging an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

How will this effect the landscape and wildlife at Trelissick?

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* registered park & garden, of which much of the estate is designated.

These plans would also allow us to reinstate an area of registered parkland, currently used for seasonal overflow parking and help preserve historic buildings from car encroachment. By returning the heart of Trelissick to pedestrian use heritage can be enjoyed in a more natural setting.

The North Woodland is an area of former farmland alongside riverside habitat which contains some of the best spaces for nature. The plans include a 33% net gain for biodiversity as woodland, woodland pasture and parkland are restored. In total we will be planting over 200 new specimen trees and over 300m of hedgerow and Cornish hedges - creating new corridors for wildlife. Our much-loved orchard isn’t going anywhere and will be the key to showcasing heritage apple varieties, just as it was intended to do.

Will a new crossing be installed to access the estate?

As part of our car park expansion and greater 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.

The North Woodland is an area of former farmland alongside riverside habitat which contains some of the best spaces for nature. The plans include a 33% net gain for biodiversity as woodland, woodland pasture and parkland are restored. In total we will be planting over 200 new specimen trees and over 300m of hedgerow and Cornish hedges - creating new corridors for wildlife. Our much-loved orchard isn’t going anywhere and will be the key to showcasing heritage apple varieties, just as it was intended to do.
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

Space to Grow - timeline so far

October 2024

Planning Appeal - car parking at Trelissick

Our plans for Trelissick are designed to ensure it is fit for the future. These include making more space for nature, improving visitor access and continuing to protect the heritage of this wonderful Cornish estate.

As part of this work, we want to redesign car parking, create a new multi-use car park that would enable us to remove the need for overflow parking on historic parkland and preserve historic buildings from car encroachment.

Our original planning application was refused earlier this year. However, we’re proud of these plans, and as part of the planning process we have taken time to reflect on this decision to ensure we are working towards the right balance for people, nature and heritage at Trelissick.

Having reviewed all the information, we believe the plans deserve further consideration and have started the process of lodging an appeal to the Planning Inspectorate.

The planning appeal process and timeline - November 2024 Update

The appeal process can take some time and is managed by the Planning Inspectorate. The appeal timetable has now been published and comments from anyone interested can be submitted from Monday 4 November - Monday 9 December 2024 via the Planning Inspectorate’s portal at https://acp.planninginspectorate.gov.uk/ using the appeal reference number 3353157. Please be aware that comments submitted outside of this window will not be considered by the Inspectorate. The documents for the appeal can be found on the planning pages of the Cornwall Council website: PA22/10184. There is also guidance available if you wish to comment. We anticipate it could take up to another six months before we know the outcome of the appeal.