Trebah
Encyclopedia
Garden
A garden is a planned space, usually outdoors, set aside for the display, cultivation, and enjoyment of plants and other forms of nature. The garden can incorporate both natural and man-made materials. The most common form today is known as a residential garden, but the term garden has...
situated in Cornwall
Cornwall
Cornwall is a unitary authority and ceremonial county of England, within the United Kingdom. It is bordered to the north and west by the Celtic Sea, to the south by the English Channel, and to the east by the county of Devon, over the River Tamar. Cornwall has a population of , and covers an area of...
near Glendurgan Garden
Glendurgan Garden
Glendurgan Garden is a National Trust garden situated above the hamlet of Durgan on the Helford River in Mawnan Smith, near Falmouth, Cornwall, England, United Kingdom.Glendurgan Garden was laid out by Alfred Fox in the 1820s and 1830s...
and above the Helford River
Helford River
The Helford River is a ria located in Cornwall, England, UK, and not a true river. It is fed by a number of small streams into its numerous creeks...
.
History of Trebah
In 1831 Trebah was acquired by the Fox familyFox family of Falmouth
The Fox family of Falmouth, Cornwall, UK were very influential in the development of the town of Falmouth in the 19th century and of the Cornish Industrial Revolution...
who built Glendurgan Garden. Trebah was first laid out as a pleasure garden by Charles Fox, a Quaker polymath of enormous creative energy who paid meticulous attention to the exact positioning of every tree. His son-in-law, Edmund Backhouse, M.P. for Darlington, took the work further.
The Hexts
In 1907 Trebah was bought by Charles Hawkins Hext and inherited on his death in 1917 by his wife, AliceAlice Hext
Alice Hext was a Cornish philanthropist, garden developer and magistrate. She was the owner of the Trebah Estate and leisure garden, near Falmouth in Cornwall from 1907 to her death in 1939,...
, who died in 1939. From 1939 to 1981 the garden fell into decline, since the substantial Trebah Estate was sold off in small packages, of which the house and garden was one.
World War II and after
During the World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Trebah was used for military purposes and the assault on Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach
Omaha Beach is the code name for one of the five sectors of the Allied invasion of German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944, during World War II...
in Normandy was launched from Polgwidden beach, at the foot of Trebah Garden.
Donald Healey
Donald Mitchell Healey CBE was a noted English rally driver, automobile engineer, and speed record holder.- Early life :...
, the motor car designer, who removed some of the concrete military structures and provided a boathouse on the beach.
Development of the garden by the Hibberts
In 1981, on their 64th birthday, Tony and Eira Hibbert bought Trebah as their retirement home. They were persuaded to give up the first three years of retirement to restore the garden.The Trust
The garden was opened to the public in 1987 and by 1989 visitor numbers had reached 36,000. The Hibbert family then gave the house, garden and cottages to the Trebah Garden Trust, a registered charity, to ensure that the garden could be preserved for future generations.In 2000 visitor numbers had exceeded 105,000 and a £1.94 million grant from the Heritage Lottery Fund
Heritage Lottery Fund
The Heritage Lottery Fund is a fund established in the United Kingdom under the National Lottery etc. Act 1993. The Fund opened for applications in 1994. It uses money raised through the National Lottery to transform and sustain the UK’s heritage...
and Objective One allowed Trebah to build the new 'Hibbert Centre', to rebuild Alice Hext's seat, restore the nursery and carry out major landscaping and garden improvements.