rare survivor

Tregothnan is home to a rare Wardian case. This is a mini greenhouse that was invented in the 1830s by Nathaniel Bagshaw Ward to protect tea plants and exotic species on their journeys around the world. “It is the oldest surviving example,” says Jonathon. Addressed to the current owner’s great-great-great-grandmother, Viscountess Falmouth, it had been hidden away since 1850. Jonathon found it in a shed on the estate in 1999. “One of the gardeners asked me if I’d seen the rabbit hutch. I could not believe my eyes. I said: ‘I don’t think that’s a rabbit hutch; it’s a Wardian case’.”