In 2025, Royal Oak’s Damaris Horan Fellowship in Landscape Design was awarded to Allyson Gibson who was based at Trelissick in Cornwall. Below is her initial report on her experience.
Established by The Mudge Foundation and named for Royal Oak’s Executive Director from 1987 to 2003, the Horan Fellowship provides training and educational opportunities for individuals with a professional interest in the history, management and conservation of historic landscapes and gardens. The Fellowship provides unique opportunities to learn from the National Trust’s extensive resources and expertise.
by ALLYSON GIBSON
Arriving in mid-September at the National Trust’s Trelissick House in Feock, Cornwall, I saw the last flush of summer flowers and the beginning of apple season on the Cornish peninsula. I met the Trelissick garden team on that first day. Just four full-time gardeners for 35 acres of immaculately maintained horticultural collections, three of the gardeners are born and raised in Cornwall. Trelissick Senior Gardener, Wella Chubb, and Head Gardener for the Heart of Cornwall Portfolio, Adam Carveth, gave me a tour of the grounds that lasted the entire day.
We walked the garden paths where they shared historical facts and current gardening practices, all while answering my numerous questions. Then the rest of the team; Will, Rose, and Dick, graciously welcomed me into the planting, weeding, pruning, and further maintenance of Trelissick. The weeks following were filled with tours of other nearby Cornwall gardens, including Trerice, Glendurgan, and Trengwainton(a former home garden for the Damaris Horan Fellowship), where I was also able to work with the respective garden teams.
Trelissick gardener Wella Chubb, Horan Fellow Allyson Gibson, and head gardener Adam Carveth
Trelissick is a garden of change and growth, a place where horticultural creativity can thrive and evolve through the decades. Even in the short time I have been here, the garden has seen several large trees removed to open shaded woodland spaces to full sun, a huge amount of shrubs and bulbs planted to diversify the existing varieties, and the start of bedding down the garden for winter.
The autumn shift here feels slower compared to my home in Virginia, and without an impending freeze, it is a more forgiving season. There has been lots of work, but also time for fun activities. I have been in ghostly videos at Trerice, watched pilot gig rowing in Falmouth, and helped install local artists’ folklore sculptures for Dark Cornwall at Trelissick. These moments have given me a glimpse into the Cornish culture, something I never would have experienced without this Fellowship.
Trelissick Walled Kitchen Garden and Glass House
The Horan Fellowship is based at Trelissick this year because of the soon-to-be-renovated walled garden and the building of a historic glasshouse. The garden is currently lawned and temporarily disconnected from the rest of the garden by a low fence. There have been events held in the space recently, including theatre performances and falconry exhibits. Because of these events and the signage that the National Trust has put up, there is a lot of interest from the public and excitement in the garden team to get started.
Gardens Tour
On a week-long trip through the countryside of the UK, I had the chance to visit many National Trust sites with walled gardens: Attingham Park, Berrington Hall, Shugborough Estate, Chastleton, Hidcote, Stourhead, Dyrham Park, Knightshayes, and privately owned Hestercombe House. The benefit of visiting these gardens in quick sequence is the comparisons and analysis I could make in order to benefit the Trelissick plans. I spoke with the gardeners designing and maintaining the walled gardens at each of the sites.
These conversations were incredibly productive, rich in expertise, and of course included fun facts and stories about horticulture. Walking with the gardeners provided me with insights like the conversation-starting compost thermometer at Chastleton, a behind-the-scenes tour of the newly installed Arcadia Garden at Shugborough, or the chance to ring the retired work bell at Knightshayes with their Senior Gardener, Andi. Visiting the gardens that I have studied in graduate school and standing on sites that Capability Brown, Gertrude Jekyll, and other infamous designers created has been the highlight of my time here.
Looking Forward
In the remaining month of the fellowship, I am looking forward to collaborating with the garden team at Trelissick to shape the future community connection with the walled kitchen garden. Adam, whom I have been shadowing through his role as Head Gardener, has an amazing vision for the walled garden to become an experimental garden. This would make Trelissick more than a display garden, but would benefit Cornwall residents in their own gardening practices and future agricultural shifts as climate change continues to affect the Cornish peninsula.
Support the Garden at Trelissick
Artist’s rendering of Trelissick/ Helen Thomas Cookson & Tickner
The Royal Oak Foundation is raising $300,000 to reinstate the glasshouse to act as the focal point of the garden. Within this beautiful and functional new glasshouse, gardeners will cultivate the exquisite peaches and nectarines for which Trelissick was once famed.
