History of Tremough Estate to be told today
8:00am Saturday 23rd March 2013 in News
The Tremough estate in Penryn has a long and varied history, but few records survive so a new project aims to create an archive with the help of locals who have their own stories to tell of the site.
There is archaeological evidence of Neolithic activity on the site and a prehistoric settlement. More recently, the walled gardens were built in the early 1700s along with the Queen Anne style house which became a Catholic convent school in 1943.
Today it is the Tremough campus which is shared and jointly managed by the University of Exeter (UoE) and Falmouth University.
The UoE has launched the People and Place: Tremough History Project and is inviting people to get involved. The project team hopes the public will come and explore the site and share their memories and records of Tremough during an open day on Saturday (March 23).
Tremough House and campus will be open to the public between 10am and 4pm in the hope of attracting people with invaluable information.
Dr Bryony Onciul, who is organising the event, said: “Tremough has an intriguing history and we hope this day will help us learn more about its past through people’s first-hand experiences and stories.
“Former pupils of the convent school, teachers, nuns and those who just enjoy walking in the grounds may have memories that can help us learn more about Tremough. Stories, photographs, school brochures and even seemingly insignificant items can hold a wealth of information.
“We are encouraging people to bring anything they have and discuss the possibility of donating items with our archive service. All records accepted will be permanently preserved by our experienced archive team and made available to researchers for years to come.”
On Saturday there will be a variety of opportunities to learn and celebrate different aspects of Tremough’s past.
In the morning there will be a mass conducted by Father Jon Bielowski to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the arrival of Les Filles de la Croix religious order in Cornwall. At lunchtime archaeologist Dr Caradoc Peters will discuss the archaeology of the site.
Throughout the day there will be guided tours of the gardens with head groundsman, David Garwood and guided tours highlighting the history of the site. The archive service will be manning “memory stations” in Tremough House where visitors will be encouraged to share their stories and documents.
