Trewithen (which means "House in the Trees") is a Palladian architectural style of house and gardens that has been owned by the same family for the past 300 years. The house, still occupied by the family, is not open to the public, but the park-like gardens are.
The original house was purchased by MP Philip Hawkins in 1715. He hired London architect Thomas Edwards to rebuild the house and design the landscape. Hawkins died at the young age of 37 without children. He left the estate to his nephew Thomas Hawkins.
Thomas Hawkins, who married the wealthy Anne Heywood, redesigned the house further and began planting specimen trees and creating vistas that founded the framework of the garden today. In 1745, he published a book titled "The Care and Cultivation of Trees".
A line of Hawkins successors continued, each making improvements and additions to the gardens. Considerable renovations were made in the early 20th century by owner George Johnstone, who added shrubs to the woodland gardens, especially rhododendrons and camellias (over 200 varieties), many of which remain today. Johnstone worked with plant hunters and brought many rare species to the gardens. The ceanothus 'Trewithen Blue' and the rhododendron 'Trewithen Orange' were bred here.
George Johnstone's most noted addition at Trewithen is the "South Lawn" which stretches 120 yards and is flanked by stately magnolias and rhododendrons -
Trewithen boasts 18 "champion" trees (these are measured by the UK Tree Society and have been recorded as the largest living specmens). Here you will find the largest Magnolia campbellii subsp. Mollicomata tree in the UK, standing over 65 feet. .
My favorite area was the Walled Garden, just adjacent to the house -
(Visited May 14, 2025)
Text and photos by Phillip Oliver, Dirt Therapy
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