Caerhays wins the 2016 Garden of the Year Award

AWARDED BY THE HISTORIC HOUSES ASSOCIATION AND SPONSORED BY CHRISTIE’S

In the striking Cornish countryside, with picturesque views across the English Channel, sits Caerhays Castle and Gardens, winner of the 2016 Garden of the Year Award, awarded by the Historic Houses Association and sponsored by Christie's. Now in its 32nd year, this prestigious national award is designed to recognise the importance of some of the country’s most spectacular gardens with outstanding horticultural and public appeal, either in their own right or as the setting for a historic house.

Orlando Rock, Christie’s UK Chairman, commented: “It is with great pleasure that we congratulate Caerhays Castle Gardens on winning the respected Garden of the Year Award, awarded by the HHA and sponsored by Christie's. Presenting a unique opportunity to recognise some of the country’s most outstanding gardens, the award is a testament to the passion and care of the Williams family and their team in their efforts to nurture these historically and botanically significant gardens.”

Richard Compton, President of the Historic Houses Association, commented: “I am delighted that Caerhays Castle has won the prestigious Garden of the Year Award for 2016. The Castle has been owned and lived in by the Williams family for many generations and there has always been a strong tradition of collecting rare species of plants. The beautiful gardens and their striking views are enjoyed by thousands of visitors each year and continue to thrive under the direction of the current owners and their team. I hope this national recognition means many more people will visit this special place.”

Nestled above Porthluney Cove, framing the castle designed by John Nash, the 120-acre historic gardens of Caerhays Castle are designated a Grade II* Listed Park and Garden by Historic England and considered of outstanding importance by The Royal Botanic Garden at Kew. The woodland oasis, which is enjoyed by so many visitors today, flourishes under the care and supervision of Charles Williams, whose great-grandfather J.C Williams (1862 - 1939), along with the support of the great plant hunters Ernest Wilson (1876-1930) and George Forrest (1873–1932), laid the foundations of this much-loved Cornish garden. Throughout their travels across China, Wilson and Forrest sent back to Caerhays a wealth of exotic and exciting plant species such as Chinese rhododendrons, magnolias, camellias, azaleas and acers facilitating the extensive hybridisation efforts for which the garden is celebrated. Many of these plants were previously unknown in Western Europe and a large number can still be appreciated more than a century later, growing in maturity and basking under the hooded canopies of the Caerhays oaks.

Charles Williams of Caerhays Castle Gardens commented: “It is a great honour for the work of four generations of the Williams family and the four talented head gardeners at Caerhays since 1897 to be recognised with such a prestigious award from the HHA and Christie’s.  A woodland garden like Caerhays never stands still and is never ‘complete’ but this is certainly a key moment in the history and development of the plant collections here.”

J.C. Williams bought his first 25 Chinese rhododendrons from the Veitch Nursery in Exeter in 1903. The 1905 Garden Book at Caerhays records the first of these new Chinese specimens, which had been collected by Wilson, being planted on the hillside above the castle. In 1906 the creation of the garden was well under way with over 50 new species of Rhododendrons planted out. By 1911 thousands of packets of seeds were being shipped to Caerhays where Williams’s team of over 50 gardeners worked tirelessly to create small sheltered planting coups, nestled together to replicate the native environment of the Szechwan and Yunnan mountains.

The arrival of the seeds provided the opportunity for Williams and his successors, Charles and Julian Williams, to implement an extensive programme of hybridisation which continues to shape the ever expanding landscape of Caerhays.

One the garden’s greatest treasures is the free-flowering and easy to grow x williamsii strain of camellias from 1923. This originates from Williams’s cross between the single red Camellia japonica, which arrived at Caerhays in 1902, and two pink forms of Camellia saluenensis which were discovered by George Forrest in March 1918.

The first hybrids were named after his wife, Mary Christian and himself. The subsequent generations of x Williamsii camellias are now available in thousands of varieties throughout the world, including Camellia ‘Caerhays’ and Camellia ‘George Blandford’. In 1955 head gardener Philip Tregunna continued the tradition adn successfully raised the playfully named M. 'Caerhays Surprise’ which produces pink flowers at an incredible 5 years of age, unlike many tree magnolias which can take up to 40 years to flower. The legacy continues to this day, led by Charles Williams, head gardener Jaimie Parsons and their talented team whose work is exemplified by the most recent addition, a hybrid which flowers in an outstanding rich pink bloom known as M. ‘Caerhays Splendour

A traditional Cornish flowering garden, Caerhays Castle Gardens is one of only four gardens in Britain to hold the NCCPG National Magnolia Collection boasting an incredible 72 species of magnolia, 222 separately named cultivars and around 205 unnamed seedlings or cultivars. The first of the Chinese magnolias to flower at Caerhays was the M. sprengeri 'Diva’ in 1919. This had been collected by E.H. Wilson and bought in 1912. The collection continued to expand over the years but it was not until 1930 the sensational magnolias trees, such as M. x veitchii, M. campbellii and M. sargentiana began to perform. The blooms, which captivate visitors from late spring, have been cultivated by four generations of the Williams family, carefully planted in the sheltered woodlands and benefiting from the fresh sea mists, typical of the humid Chinese mountain habitats where many of the incredible collection of magnolias originate. This unique microclimate and rich acidic soil produces ideal growing for ericaceous plants and allows the radiant magnolias to thrive, perfectly complementing the exquisite blooms of camellias, rhododendrons and Asiatic shrubs which decorate Caerhays.