Caerhays Castle

Caerhays Castle from the southeast

Caerhays Castle (also: Caerhayes Castle or Carhayes Castle ) is a partially fortified manor house about 800 meters south of the village center of St Michael Caerhays in the English county of Cornwall . The house stands over Porthluney Cove on the English Channel . In German, the name of the house means "enclosed castle". The garden houses the largest collection of magnolias in England, including one of four national magnolia collections under the aegis of the National Council for the Conservation of Plants and Gardens .

History of the manor

Arundell

In the early Middle Ages the manor belonged to the Arundell family. The oldest mention of the name is Karihaes in 1259 and in 1379 it was mentioned as Karihaes, but its original meaning is unknown.

Trevanion

Around 1379 the manor fell to the Trevanion family when Robert Trevanion and Johanna Arundell married. Johanna Arundell was the daughter and heiress of Rudolph Arundell from Caerhays. John Trevanion inherited the property in 1703, had the existing manor house rebuilt and the gardens laid out.

Bettesworth Trevanion

With the death of William Trevanion in 1767, the male line of the Trevanions became extinct and the property fell to his sister's son, John Bettesworth. In 1801, when Bettesworth's 21-year-old son inherited Caerhays Castle, he adopted Trevanion as an additional name, then called John Bettesworth-Trevanion.

He had today's manor house built on a site near the previous manor house. Its architect was the English-Welsh John Nash . Bettesworth-Trevanion was elected Member of Parliament for the Penryn constituency in 1807 and construction of the new mansion began that same year. It was completed in 1810. The new mansion was built near the old one, which had already been expanded during the reign of Henry VIII .

Williams

After Bettesworth-Trevanion fled from its creditors to Paris , Michael Williams II bought Caerhays Castle from these creditors in 1854. The younger brother of Michael Williams II., Sir William (1791-1870) was appointed baronet in 1866. After the house had not been inhabited for over a decade and was not waterproof for a while, Michael Williams II and his son, John Michael Williams (1813–1880) had it completely renovated. Michael Williams II died in 1858, leaving Caerhays Castle to his eldest son John Michael, while he left Scorrier House to his sixth son, George Williams (1827-1891), who was High Sheriff of Cornwall in 1875 . After the death of John Michael Williams in 1880, his second son, John Charles Williams (1861-1939), then 18 years old, inherited the estate of Caerhays Castle. John Charles Williams married in 1884 and that same year the house underwent another restoration and remodeling. He became an enthusiastic gardener and botanist who sponsored expeditions to acquire plants in order to fill his castle garden with new acquisitions. Harry Veitch donated seeds that Ernest Henry Wilson brought from China in 1903 . The current (2012) owner is Charles Williams.

construction

The manor house, which looks like a Norman castle, was built from coarse stone from the immediate vicinity. The 48 meter long main facade faces south and has a crenellated terrace . The most important rooms are on the south and east sides and are connected by a long gallery . Painted glass windows adorn the dining room, stairwell and entrance hall.

Parts of the old mansion have been preserved, e.g. B. the old chapel and an old promenade to the sea, the "Watchhouse Walk" is called.

Caerhays Castle
Caerhays Castle
Main gatehouse

Historical preservation

The new mansion was listed by English Heritage as a Grade I Historic Building on November 15, 1988 . Other historical buildings of the first degree on the grounds of the manor house are the garden wall with its gateways and the folly towers , which are connected to the west and east of the manor house, the higher lodge , the lower lodge with the attached garden umbrellas, and the outbuildings which are connected to the south-west attached to the mansion.

garden

The garden covers an area of almost 49 hectares and is intersected by four streets called "Red Street", "Blue Street", "Yellow Street" and "Green Street". There are also dirt roads, grassy paths and steps there. There are 600 species of plants in the garden, such as trees and bushes, e.g. B. Azaleas and Camellias . In 1917 there were over 250 species of rhododendrons there . The garden is also home to the largest collection of magnolias in England.