About
Trerice is one of England's most enchanting small historic houses — a compact and exquisite Elizabethan manor, built in 1573 for the Arundell family on the site of an earlier house, that has survived with remarkable completeness in a secluded valley near Newquay in Cornwall.
In an age of grand National Trust country houses, Trerice stands apart through its intimacy and authenticity. The house is small by the standards of Elizabethan ambition — this is gentry architecture, not aristocratic display — but within that modest scale it achieves a quality of design and craftsmanship that rewards close attention. The facade is immediately distinctive: scrolled Dutch gables of curling, undulating stonework that were fashionable in the 1570s and give Trerice a character quite unlike the more familiar classical or Gothic Revival country houses of later periods.
The great hall is the heart of the house, and its plaster ceiling is the outstanding interior feature — a barrel-vaulted masterpiece of Elizabethan plasterwork, covering the entire ceiling with an intricate pattern of ribs, pendants, and decorative mouldings that has survived almost entirely intact from 1573. The quality of this ceiling suggests craftsmen of the highest ability, probably brought to Cornwall from Exeter or further afield by the ambitious Arundell family.
The collections reflect the taste and social aspirations of a prosperous Cornish gentry family over several generations. Period furniture — oak tables, carved chests, joined chairs — fills the rooms alongside portraits of family members, needlework of great delicacy and skill, and decorative arts appropriate to a sixteenth and seventeenth-century household of quality. The accumulation of objects is genuine rather than assembled for display, giving Trerice the atmosphere of a house that has actually been lived in rather than curated for public consumption.
In the converted barn, an unexpected treasure awaits: a small but fascinating collection of lawn mowers tracing the history of this peculiarly English invention from its creation by Edwin Budding in Stroud in 1830 to the mechanised models of the twentieth century. The collection is both charming and genuinely informative, and provides a talking point quite unlike anything available at more conventional historic houses.
The walled garden is planted with period-appropriate species and provides a tranquil, sheltered retreat, while the orchard and surrounding Cornish countryside offer pleasant walks in a landscape of great beauty.
Categories:
Highlights
The Scrolled Dutch Gables
The most immediately distinctive feature of Trerice is its facade — specifically, the extraordinary scrolled Dutch gables that give the house its unique silhouette. These curling, undulating stone gables, fashionable in the Netherlands and in English architecture during the 1570s, are exceptionally rare survivals and give Trerice a character quite unlike any other historic house in England.
Their presence in rural Cornwall reflects the ambition of the Arundell family and their awareness of cosmopolitan architectural fashion, even at the far western edge of the country.
The gables are a key reason why Trerice is a Grade I Listed Building of exceptional architectural significance.
The Great Hall Plaster Ceiling
The barrel-vaulted plaster ceiling of Trerice's great hall is the outstanding interior feature of the house — one of the finest Elizabethan plaster ceilings surviving in the south-west of England. Created in 1573 and essentially intact, it covers the entire ceiling of the hall with an intricate pattern of ribs, pendants, and decorative mouldings of remarkable quality and elaboration.
The craftsmanship suggests highly skilled specialists, probably brought to Cornwall from Exeter or London by the Arundell family.
Looking up at this ceiling, it is impossible not to be struck by the ambition and sophistication of its creators in this apparently remote Cornish valley.
The Lawn Mower Collection
Hidden in the barn at Trerice is one of the National Trust's most surprising and delightful exhibits — a collection of historic lawn mowers tracing the history of this quintessentially English invention from its origins in 1830. Edwin Budding invented the first cylinder lawn mower in Stroud, Gloucestershire, in 1830, adapting a cloth-finishing machine to cut grass, and the concept rapidly transformed the English lawn from a luxury requiring scythe-wielding labourers into a practical domestic amenity.
The Trerice collection includes examples from the Victorian era through to the mid-twentieth century, prompting delighted recognition from almost every adult visitor and genuine historical interest in others.
Elizabethan Furniture and Domestic Objects
The rooms of Trerice are furnished with period oak furniture — heavy carved chests, joined chairs, long tables, cupboards — that reflects the domestic life of a prosperous Elizabethan and early Stuart gentry household. Unlike some historic houses where furniture has been assembled from dispersed sources, much of what is at Trerice has a genuine connection to the house and its families, giving the rooms an atmosphere of authenticity.
The objects range from the practical to the decorative, and together they create a vivid impression of gentry life in late Elizabethan and Jacobean Cornwall.
Collections
The House: Elizabethan Trerice
The furnished historic house presented as a National Trust property with period rooms, family portraits, needlework, and decorative arts. Room guides provide interpretation throughout. The great hall ceiling and Dutch gable facade are the architectural highlights.
The Lawn Mower Collection
A collection of historic lawn mowers in the barn, tracing the history of the cylinder lawn mower from Edwin Budding's 1830 invention through Victorian and Edwardian models to mid-twentieth century examples. An unexpectedly engaging collection that appeals to visitors of all ages.
Current Exhibitions
No current exhibitions. Please check the museum website for updates.