Trerice is an historic manor in the parish of Newlyn East, near Newquay, Cornwall, United Kingdom. The surviving Tudor manor house known as Trerice House is located at Kestle Mill, three miles east of Newquay.
Learn more insights from Wanderboat AI.
A small Elizabethan manor house (from 1573) featured in the popular "Poldark" novels (but not in the TV show, which was shot in Gloucestershire), Trerice Manor makes for an appealing, if minor, attraction a few miles outside of Newquay. It is owned and operated by the National Trust, so for a member entry is free. I'm not one, so I paid the UKP 10 for a standard adult ticket.
The best way to get to Trerice is definitely by car; if you have to use the bus, the closest stop is "Kestle Mill" - and that means you will still have to walk about a mile to Trerice - but if you look strung out enough after the walk they'll give you a UKP 1 coupon for the shop/café for "reducing the carbon footprint". Google Maps misinformed me about the right stop, so I ended up wasting almost an hour stranded next to the "Dairyland Farm World" waiting for the return bus. Be aware that buses on this line only come once every hour.
From outside, Trerice is in fine shape since its previous owner, a businessman, restored part of the building some decades ago. It features some really beautiful architecture and pleasant, if not terribly opulent small gardens. A few times a day one of the volunteers will meet visitors in the garden and provide them with some information about the history of the manor, and I recommend to participate in this short "lecture" (about 20 minutes). You can freely stroll around the gardens and unwind at the café located in a separate building behind Trerice. The café has some nice options, and it's very spacious.
Inside, it's another story. Since the house had had different owners over the centuries, few traces of Elizabethan furniture and décor have survived. Some effort has been made to re-create certain rooms, but most of the existing furniture is either from the 19th century or indeed the 1950s, when it was owned by said businessman. There are few rooms indeed, and mostly small ones, so the inside I'd say will take you no more than 20-30 minutes - printed information about the furniture and the paintings is provided in every room. You can also ask the friendly and helpful volunteers. For some impressions look at photos. Photography, btw, is allowed both inside and outside.
Once you are done with the house proper you can have a look at the herb garden, or the most ridiculous "maze" I've ever seen. But the café is really one of the nicer and larger ones I've seen on a National Trust property. Have a scone and a coffee, or even a bottle (pint) of local ale before you embark on the 30 minute return trip to the bus stop.
In the summer months, the house opens at 11 a.m. and closes at 5 p.m. The shop, the gardens and the tea room are open from 10.30.
Staff were very friendly indeed. Trerice is one of very few manor houses available to the public in this area, so you should definitely stop by...
Read more
The grounds of the house are beautiful and there was some summer outside activities to do, but the people inside the house came across as standoffish.... we were told we had to carryout backpack then another member of staff said we had to put it in a locker. There are signs everywhere saying do not touch, which is fine, to then be told quite a lot of times that we weren't to touch... I'm a grown adult, I wasn't touching anything. Then it felt we were being watched all the way through the house. I appreciate the items on display are old and precious, but there was no need to make people feel uncomfortable for being there. The cafe also stops serving toasted sandwiches at 2.30, even though they are all in the fridge, this was also barked at us and made us also feel uncomfortable. There must have been at least 8 more transactions after us, with everyone picking up the same few toasted sandwiches, they could have made a fortune, but they had already turned the merry chef off for 'cleaning', which in itself only takes 5 minutes. Other families after us were offered sandwiches from the back, but we weren't. Overall, beautiful place, shame about the overly...
Read more
Went to the Xmas experience thingamajig and it was awesome.
Arrived at the venue, there was plenty of parking, helpful friendly staff and excellent signage saw us directed straight to the event.
The gentleman who was performing was tremendous, his outfit was brilliant, the venue looked stunning and my little girl was engaged, awestruck and shy in equal measure, and she got a Christmas Alpaca - which is nice.
So why did it only get 4 stars you ask, it sounds magical.
Well sadly, whoever runs the place clearly forgot to mention to the onsite cafe that there was going to be a boatload of people turning up.
And I don't think I'm being unfair in saying that they just weren't ready, the typical state of National Trust cafes is overpriced,understaffed and clueless and let me tell you the poor members on shift over lunchtime looked terrified and horrified in equal measure ...
So, great event, would recommend, but don't worry about the second mortgage required to pay...
Read more
