My postcard last month of the Bassett Tehidy Estate prompted the following article written by Margaret Morgan of the #229B Thomas Basset of Illogan, Cornwall family line.
She currently owns the Sheoaks B&B in Tasmania.
The link for their B&B is below.
Tehidy Park Today
On our last visit to the UK we stayed just out of Portreath for 10 days. Lavender Cottage, our holiday accommodation, was once part of the grooms cottage for Tehidy Park. The Bassets must have had a number of grooms. Lavender Cottage was a very spacious 2 bedroom apartment and the original stone building is now divided into 3 such apartments. This figures as they were involved in horse racing.
Our cottage faced Tehidy Park golf course, superbly laid out with a substantial and attractively sited golf club, including a restaurant open to the public. The following is from the golf club’s website.
“In 1922, businessmen from the Camborne-Redruth area leased 75 acres of the erstwhile Basset Estate and enlisted the help of one of the great Cornishmen, the Open Champion Jim Barnes, to advise them on the layout of the first course. This was in play in October of 1922 and at that time measured what we would now consider to be a meagre 5000 yards. With the equipment of the day and the existence of fine woodland, it would, no doubt, have been as tough a test as the present layout.
Shortly after World War II, the noted golf course architect C.K.Cotton was utilised to design and build some noteworthy improvements, bringing the course to only a little short of its current length of 6241 yards. It should be added that the course, although undulating, is never unduly arduous to walk, the only tough climb being up the difficult par 4 15th hole of 443 yards.
In 1996, the freehold was purchased and in 1998 extensive work was undertaken to provide an improved watering system, which incorporated the building of three lakes, which have a significant presence on the closing holes of the course. Continuous improvement is now a watchword of the Club and the appointment in 2002 of Head Greenkeeper Andrew Eddison should ensure that future improvements are carried out to the highest standards.”
Behind our cottage and round about was the 250 acre Tehidy Country Park, with miles of well maintained walking tracks, a linked system of small lakes and a pleasantly situated cafe with indoor and outdoor eating areas. There’s also an events field which can be hired (and has its own program of summer and winter events as well), outdoor education facilities, a permanent orienteering course and a schools and youth campsite. Situated in a specially designated woodland area are barbecues, which can be hired for family gatherings, etc. The park is a haven for wildlife (including otters) and in spring the woodland is carpeted with ramsons, wild daffodils, then bluebells. We just caught the end of the latter, but were in time to enjoy masses of brilliant pink campions and foxgloves. Tehidy Park is now a wonderful and well used community facility.
In the middle of all this is the building in your featured post card, now divided into luxury apartments and at the centre of a gated residential community. Although excised from the country park, the private grounds are still extensive, including both newer plantings and mature trees dating back to the Basset era. Additional luxury houses have been built beside the original mansion. I imagine it would be a very attractive place to live. Thanks to the existence of the country park, it can never be encroached on, always remaining quietly rural, while still being relatively close to the wide range of facilities in Redruth/Camborne and a bit further afield, to those of Truro and Penzance.
Current picture of Tehidy Park
Tehidy County Park Sign (with Basset Coat of Arms)