Heligan estate

For Helligan, in the civil parish of St Mabyn, North Cornwall, see St Mabyn.

The Heligan estate (/hɛˈlɪɡən/; Cornish: Helygen, meaning willow tree) was the ancestral home of the Tremayne family near Mevagissey in Cornwall, England. The family also held property in the form of another 2000+ acre estate and various estates in Sydenham near Marystow in Devon.

History

Heligan (meaning "willows" in Cornish) is first recorded in the twelfth century.[1] The estate was bought by Sampson Tremayne in 1659.[2] Heligan House was built by William Tremayne in 1603 in Jacobean style[2] but only the basement of that house remains. The house was substantially rebuilt in 1692 by Sir John Tremayne (1647–1694) in William and Mary style [2] and extended in 1810 and 1830. Unusually for Cornwall the house is built of brick.[1]

Gardens

The members of the family who developed the garden were:

The estate was let out after the First World War. The house was divided into flats and sold in the 1970s.[2] The garden remained in the ownership of the Tremayne family but was not maintained. It was rediscovered and rescued in a televised project in 1996.[4] The Lost Gardens of Heligan are now a major visitor attraction.

References

  1. 1.0 1.1 Lost Gardens of Heligan on Mevagissey website
  2. 2.0 2.1 2.2 2.3 "Our Timeline". Lost Gardens of Heligan. Retrieved 1 January 2011.
  3. A Genealogical and Heraldic Dictionary of the Landed Gentry of Great Britain 1863, p.1535: Tremayne descent.
  4. "The Tremaynes and the Gardens at Heligan" in Philip McMillan Browse (Editor) Heligan survivors: an introduction to some of the historic plantstock discovered in the "Lost gardens of Heligan", Penzance, Alison Hodge (2007) ISBN 978-0-906720-53-0, pp.4-5

Coordinates: 50°17′N 4°48′W / 50.283°N 4.800°W