Offering fun for all the family.
Caerhays Castle is to open its gates to the public once more on February 17th offering a magical new nature trail for kids, exciting locally sourced items in the shop, a new film room showing films about the estate, history of the gardens, Williams family past, present and future and an evocative new memorial garden.
After a vintage award winning year in 2019, visitors to Caerhays Castle will be able to explore the magical 140-acre English Heritage Grade II Listed woodland gardens and enjoy its stunning National Magnolia Collection, made up of over 600 varieties, along with a range of new attractions.
The famous spring gardens are perfect for families: kids go free during the school holidays, including half term, and they can enjoy a specially designed trail around its stunning woodland paths, exploring nature and having fun in the outdoors. Written clues, available from the entrance point will guide them to cute animal carvings hidden in the woods, surrounded by beautiful magnolias.
The shop at Caerhays which includes a plant sales area will also sell new home and lifestyle products, gardening accessories, gift ideas for all ages and some of Caerhays Castles own products too. New for 2020 is a bespoke range of Caerhays toiletries by Made For Life Organics, Caerhays Honey and Caerhays chocolate.
Spring garden visitors can also enjoy walks on the beach, where the car park and beach cafe is situated, as well as a Cornish cream tea in the castle’s tea-rooms.
F.J Williams with current Caerhays owner, his son Charles Williams standing beside a Magnolia campbellii ‘Alba’ seedling.
The shed in Tin Gardens
The FJ Williams memorial garden will also open for the first time. Situated in Tin Garden at the top of the estate garden, the garden was originally planted by JC Williams, the great great grandfather of current owner Charles Williams. Thousands of new varieties of daffodils were bred and raised in Tin Garden by JC Williams and his daffodil gardener, Mr Gregory. By 1900 JCW had expanded his interest in horticulture and gardening far beyond daffodils and he began to fund plant hunting expeditions to China. The seeds of the new varieties of rhododendrons, camellias and magnolias which were sent back to Caerhays between 1902 and 1932 form the basis of the 140 acre woodland gardens which you see today.
History and garden fans will also enjoy the new Caerhays film room – an old garage in the courtyard converted into a film room and exhibition space. Visitors can watch films on the history of Caerhays and the Williams family, the plant hunters, and the fascinating Caerhays mineral collection.
The historic gardens are the lifelong passion of the owner of Caerhays Castle, Charles Williams. Charles also owns and runs one of the biggest plant mail order companies in the UK, Burncoose Nurseries, part of the Caerhays Estate, which is also extremely successful at the Chelsea Flower Show having won 24 Chelsea Golds. In 2019 Burncoose won a silver gilt at Chelsea.