Fallen Pine Left as Storm Goretti Memorial as Trengwainton Terrace Reopens

The view that regulars have been missing for months is finally back, and the garden has kept something striking to remember the storm by.

Visitors can once again take in the sweeping views across Mounts Bay from Trengwainton’s iconic Terrace, as another much-loved part of the storm-damaged garden reopens following Storm Goretti.

It’s the news that regulars to the garden have been waiting for. The ferocity of Storm Goretti in January felled 150 trees in the National Trust garden and destabilised countless others.

📷Credit: James Dobson

A methodical recovery

The task of clearing the trees and making areas safe has been carried out by the National Trust’s team of skilled staff and local tree surgeons, Treewise. Section by section, they’ve worked their way through each area of the garden, tackling the huge fallen trees while being careful not to damage the rare and internationally significant plant collection that lives there.

Tom Bush, head gardener for the National Trust at Trengwainton, said:

“We’re really pleased to be able to re-open the iconic Terrace. Storm Goretti has left a lasting legacy across the gardens but we’re looking forward to using the fallen trees to create some unique features.”

Visitors can now walk the full half a mile from the bottom of the garden to the top, along a drive lined with award-winning rhododendrons, passing the colourful stream garden and on into the cool of the giant tree fern glade, before emerging into the sunshine of the Terrace.

On a clear day the view stretches the full 25 miles across the sea to the Lizard Peninsula beyond, and it’s a popular spot for quiet contemplation.

📷Credit: James Dobson

A memorial four metres wide

A new feature in this section of the garden is a fallen Monterey pine being left in place as a form of memorial to the storm.

With a root plate towering four metres in diameter, it’s an awesome sight. Visitors are being asked for ideas on how the trunk could be used as a form of interpretation. Other sections of fallen trees are being kept aside, and conversations are ongoing with local wood carvers about the potential to produce sculptures for the garden.

The next phase of the clearance will be the top section of the woodland walk, and finally the Royal Meadow, which took the brunt of the storm.

Tom added:

“The fallen trees here provide a sobering contrast to the beauty in the rest of the garden and demonstrate in graphic terms the force of the 90mph winds that snapped mature trees like so many matchsticks and changed Cornwall’s landscape for generations to come.”

For visitor information visit – https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/visit/cornwall/trengwainton-garden

📷Credit: Andrew Butler

📷© National Trust Images Sarah Elmes

📷West Cornwall Lead Ranger Simon Hocking © National Trust Images

📷© National Trust Images

📷© National Trust Images Roy Horton

📷© National Trust Images Sarah Elmes

📷Monteray pine on Terrace - Marina Rule