Tresco Abbey
| Tresco Abbey Gardens | |
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Tresco Abbey Gardens
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 Location within the Isles of Scilly
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| Type | Botanical |
| Location | Tresco, Isles of Scilly, England |
| Coordinates | 49°56′52″N 6°19′57″W / 49.94778°N 6.33250°WCoordinates: 49°56′52″N 6°19′57″W / 49.94778°N 6.33250°W |
| Area | 17 acres (6.9 hectares) |
| Opened | 1834 |
| Founder | Augustus Smith |
| Owned by | Robert Dorrien-Smith |
| Operated by | Tresco Estate |
| Website | tresco |
Tresco Abbey Gardens are located on the island of Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, United Kingdom. The 17 acre gardens were established by the nineteenth-century proprietor of the islands, Augustus Smith, originally as a private garden within the grounds of the home he designed and built. The gardens are designated at Grade I in the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens.
Augustus Smith chose Tresco as the site of his home because the site was more or less central in relation to the rest of the islands. It is also close to the original abbey ruins, is near a fresh water pool and overlooks the sand dunes and beach at Carn Near. The area at the time was barren land and the original building, designed by Smith and started in 1835, was small in comparison to the current building. He made additions to the house in 1843 and 1861. The Grade II listed house consists of roughly coursed granite with ashlar dressings and a slate roof. Some of the timbers from the 1861 wreck of the Award were used for the panelling and roof of the new dining room, as well as panelling of the rooms Annet, Rosevean and Rosevear. His successor, Thomas Algernon Smith-Dorrien-Smith added the tower in 1891.
When Augustus Smith chose the area for his house and garden one of his first acts was to build a granite wall for shelter and to scatter gorse (Ulex europaeus) seeds. The seeds were brought from the mainland which suggests that the main gorse plant on the islands was western gorse (Ulex gallii) which, being a low growing plant, would not provide as much shelter. Within the gardens are the remains of a Benedictine abbey founded in 964 AD, although the majority of what remains today comes from the Priory of St Nicholas founded by monks from in 1114. There were hardly any trees on the island and the gorse did not provide enough protection so he planted shelterbelts. The first were mainly deciduous trees such as, elm (Ulmus sp), sycamore (Acer pseudoplatanus), oak (Rubus sp) and poplar (Poplar sp), and later he planted Monterey cypress (Cupressus macrocarpa) and Monterey pine (Pinus radiata) which are fast growing and suited to coastal conditions.
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Wikipedia