Penzance Cornwall
Penzance is unlike anywhere else in Cornwall. The most westerly town in mainland Britain, it sits at the head of Mount’s Bay with St Michael’s Mount rising from the water to the east and the Penwith peninsula stretching away towards Land’s End to the west. It is a town with a strong sense of its own identity, bohemian, artistic and proudly independent. In recent years that identity has attracted a new wave of creative homeowners drawn by the exceptional light, the mild climate and property values that still compare favourably with the rest of the South West. Alongside the Georgian terraces and Victorian villas of the town centre, a number of more contemporary properties have emerged, particularly on the elevated ground above the bay where the views across to St Michael’s Mount are at their most spectacular.
Designing in West Cornwall’s Mildest Climate
Penzance and the surrounding area enjoys one of the mildest climates in the British Isles. The Gulf Stream influence means that frosts are rare, winters are short, and the growing season extends well beyond what is possible almost anywhere else in the UK. For a garden designer, this is an extraordinary palette to work with. Plants that would be considered tender or exotic elsewhere palms, large echiums, agapanthus, proteas and a vast range of Southern Hemisphere species can be grown here with confidence, giving gardens in this part of Cornwall a lushness and ambition that is genuinely unlike anything achievable further north or east.
That mild climate comes with its own considerations, however. Salt winds off the Atlantic can be damaging, particularly on more exposed sites, and the combination of mild temperatures and high rainfall creates conditions in which some plants grow with almost alarming vigour. Good planting design here is about understanding what thrives, what needs protection, and how to create a garden that performs beautifully through the long growing season without becoming unmanageable.
A Town of Exceptional Gardens
Penzance and its immediate surroundings have a remarkable horticultural heritage. Trengwainton Garden to the west and the Abbey Garden on Tresco in the Isles of Scilly, accessible by ferry from the town, represent some of the finest exotic planting in the country. That tradition of ambitious, plant-led garden making runs deep in this corner of Cornwall, and it informs the way we approach every project in the area.
The Wider Area
We work throughout West Cornwall, including Newlyn, Mousehole, Marazion, St Just, Pendeen and the villages of the Penwith peninsula, as well as along the north coast towards St Ives and Carbis Bay. If you are considering a garden project anywhere in this area, we would love to visit the site and talk through your ideas.