Event details:

• Full title of event: Open Gardens
• Date and time of event: Sunday 19^th May 11.00am to 4.00pm
• Where to meet: Burncoose House, Gwennap, Redruth, TR16 6BJ
• Cost of event: £5 under-16s free

Many people visiting Burncoose Nurseries at Gwennap, near Redruth, may have no idea that the garden and house exist but on Sunday May 19^th these will be opening for the Trust from 11.00am to 4.00pm and visitors will be free to wander around the grand house.

An added attraction will be floral demonstrations by staff from the Cornish Cutting Garden in Porkellis. The owner of this garden is passionate about organic cultivation, and there is an opportunity to see more of their produce on Sunday 7^th July when they also open for the Trust.

Admission is £5 with under 16s free. Dogs are allowed on leads. Cream teas and beverages will be provided by Roddas, Berrymans and Cornish Coffee, along with homemade refreshments.

Burncoose House and Nurseries is the oldest part of the Caerhays Estate which is owned by the Williams family. The Williams family originally arrived in Cornwall in 1650 and settled at Burncoose in 1715.  Successive generations were major players in the heydays of Cornish tin mining and for a period the world price of copper was set from the Burncoose office and the family employed 10,000 people within the Gwennap Parish alone. 

Perched on a hilltop, Burncoose doesn't benefit from Cornwall's microclimates responsible for the flourishing valley gardens, yet it is still home to one of the most diverse ranges of plants in the region. Its sprawling woodland gardens and old flower garden are rich with the likes of camellias, azaleas, and rhododendrons, as well as over 20 species of bamboo. The vast acreage is packed with prolific blooms all year round and in the spring there are drifts of snowdrops, primroses and wild violets, with daffodils and carpets of bluebells which should still be around in mid-May.

There are hard paths on which to navigate the extensive garden. These were once used for a pony and trap to take the owners around the estate and today they provide good disabled access.

The actual nursery at Burncoose stocks over 3,500 varieties of ornamental trees, shrubs and other herbaceous plants. Specialities include camellias, magnolias, and rhododendrons, as well as many unusual and rare plants. Quite a plant stall!

Isabella Hawkes, Community Fundraising Officer for Cornwall Wildlife Trust, says,

“This is Burncoose’s second year of opening for the Trust. They were one of our most popular gardens last year, and we are expecting the same again this year. So if you are coming to Burncoose to stock up for your own garden why not take a look at their garden, and the house and help raise money for our important conservation work”.

The gardens all have a common theme of providing a haven for Cornish wildlife and the Open Gardens scheme raises vital funds for the Trust’s conservation work protecting Cornwall’s wildlife and wild places.

Other gardens opening for the Trust this year are: June 2^nd Little Park Farm, St. Clements, Malpas; June 9^th Boswiddle, Ladock; June 23^rd Lethytep, Penadlake, Lanreath; July 7^th Cornish Cutting Garden, Lower Releath; July 14^th Arundell, West Pentire; July 28^th Millpool, Cardinham, Bodmin; August 4^th Trenarth, High Cross, Constantine; September 1^st South Bosent, Dobwalls, Liskeard.

For more information please see our Open Gardens page.