Trewithen

History of Trewithen from 19th Century to present day

CHT - Henry Hawkins died childless in 1903 and both Trewithen and the Bignor estates passed to his nephew John Heywood Johnstone, MP for Horsham and son of CHT's younger sister, Mary Anne Hawkins and her husband the Reverend George Dempster Johnstone. John died a year later, leaving everything to his son George Johnstone whose name has become synonymous with the glories of Trewithen Gardens as they are seen today.

Not only did George choose to live at Trewithen in preference to Bignor in Sussex with his young wife Alison Raffles Flint, he also determined to create, in his words, a garden ‘of excitement and discovery' within the woodlands. Before the First World War his travels to Australia, New Zealand and Japan had instilled him with an early and passionate interest in plants. During the war he fought in Palestine but returned soon after to start clearing and designing the new garden within the framework of the original 18th century landscaping and woodland planting.

 

One of the early sponsors of plant hunters like E H Wilson, George Forrest and Kingdon Ward, George was rewarded with copious amounts of seed from South East Asia, Australasia, South and North America. As a result he helped to create for posterity what is now regarded as an incomparable contribution to the gardening heritage of Britain.

 

When George Johnstone died in 1960 his widow and eldest daughter Elizabeth continued his botanical work. Elizabeth was later awarded the Bledisloe Gold Medal for services to Agriculture and Landowning.

 

Trewithen's current owner is Michael Galsworthy, George Johnstone's grandson. Equally committed to the care and further development of both the gardens and the wider estate, he came to live in the house with his family in 1980. Since then, he has overseen the planting of more than 30,000 trees to enlarge the shelter belts and surrounding woodlands - compensating for the many casualties of the great storm in 1990.