Tresillian was once the lowest bridging point on the Truro River, and the highest navigable point from the sea. In 1646 the Royalist and parliamentarian forces signed a cease-fire. The Wheel Inn was the headquarters of the Parliamentary army - the inn has a spoked wheel of straw on its thatched roof. The Civil War in Cornwall lasted from August 1642, until 12 March 1646, when the Royalist army surrendered at Tresillian Bridge near Truro
There is a thatched 15th Century Wheel Inn public house
On the other bank is the Tregothnan estate, home of Lord Falmouth (not open to the public). The garden is not open to the public, but the Head Gardener can arrange a limited number of private visits where they act as guides, discussing the fascinating history of the garden.
John de Boscawen Ros of St. Buryan Parish married the heiress Johan de Tregothnan in 1335, he moved his home from the Penzance area to Tregothnan. The Tregothnan coat of arms is set over the front door; 'Tregothnan' translated from Cornish means 'The House at the Head of the Valley.'
The original house, in Plantagenet times, lay to the northwest of the present terrace. It was a two-storeyed building with a battlemented tower containing an arched doorway. Only the old doorway remains - at the entrance of the present kitchen garden. The original house was 'sacked' in the Civil War, and the present house dates from the time of the Protectorate, as confirmed by the date, 1652, carved in stone over the side door.
In 1811, Humphry Repton, Norfolkman and landscape designer, reported to Lord Falmouth that the floors of the house had dry rot and were giving way. His report contained plans for rebuilding the house and landscaping the grounds. The 1652 manor house was refaced, re-roofed and embodied in the new and enlarged Tregothnan family home.
Admiral The Hon. Edward Boscawen's cannons are mounted on the terrace of the house as a tribute to the great Cornish Admiral's victories over the French in the Seven Years' War (1756-1763). Admiral Boscawen is buried at the nearby church of St. Michael Penkivel which also contains his memorial, designed by the Robert Adam.
Tresillian Cornwall, old photographs and maps