- Trebah
Trebah is a 26 acre sub-tropical
garden situated inCornwall nearGlendurgan Garden and above theHelford River (gbmapping|SW767273).History of Trebah
In 1831 Trebah was acquired by the Fox family 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, Alice, 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.The World War
During the
World War II , Trebah was used for military purposes and the assault onOmaha Beach in Normandy was launched from Polgwidden beach, at the foot of Trebah Garden.
[
thumb|left|Inscription_on_Memorial_Slab_at_the_foot_of_Trebah_Garden:29th Infantry Division, who embarked from Trebah in June 1944 for the D-Day assault on Omaha Beach. We will remember them."]One of the subsequent owners was
Donald Healey , 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 andObjective 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.Views from Trebah
External links
* [http://www.trebahgarden.co.uk Official Trebah website]
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