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TREGOTHNAN CORNISH TEA
TREGOTHNAN CORNISH TEA
Tregothnan is England's only tea estate, growing exquisite loose leaf tea on a historic Cornish estate since 1999. A genuinely rare and precious British treasure, Tregothnan teas make a truly original gift for any tea lover.
Tregothnan Tea
Tregothnan Tea
Our tregothnan tea selection showcases one of the most extraordinary stories in British food and drink. Tregothnan Estate in Cornwall is home to Britain's only tea garden. It is a remarkable achievement born from decades of dedication, research and passion. We have carefully selected the finest teas from their range for you.
By contrast, tregothnan tea was not an obvious venture. In the mid-nineties, the estate's gardeners noticed the success of ornamental Camellias growing there. Tea is a type of Camellia — the Camellia sinensis. They suspected the tea variety might also thrive in Tregothnan's unique Cornish environment.
Tregothnan Tea — Britain's First Tea Garden
Indeed, much research was undertaken to bring tregothnan tea to life, including trips to tea regions in Darjeeling and Japan. Head Gardener Jonathan Jones completed a Nuffield Scholarship on the subject. In 1999, the very first British tea bushes were planted. It was a historic moment for British horticulture.
Moreover, the kitchen garden was chosen for its sheltered microclimate. One side is protected by the high wall of the ancient garden. The other is shielded by Tregothnan's thick Manuka bushes. After early setbacks, the first 300 tregothnan tea bushes eventually took root. Spring storms had swept the earliest plantings over the garden wall!
Our Tregothnan Tea Selection
Furthermore, the first tregothnan tea harvest took place in 2005, yielding just 28 grams. It was heralded as the 'new Darjeeling' — the world's first true English tea. Twenty years on, up to 20,000 bushes are planted every year across the wider estate in Cornwall.
Scale, Luxury and Our Selection
Additionally, out of 1,000 acres at Tregothnan, only 150 meet the exacting criteria for tea growing. To counter limitations of scale, tregothnan tea is positioned as a luxury brand — and rightly so. We have carefully selected the finest examples from their range to share with you.
Indeed, every cup of tregothnan tea carries the story of those first 300 bushes. It spans that first 28-gram harvest and twenty years of Cornish craftsmanship. There is truly nothing else quite like it in the world.
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England's Only Tea Estate
Tucked into a sheltered valley on the banks of the River Fal in Cornwall, Tregothnan holds a distinction shared by no other estate in England: it grows its own tea. The estate has been the home of the Boscawen family — Viscounts Falmouth — for centuries, and their connection to tea runs remarkably deep. The current Viscount is a direct descendant of the second Earl Grey, the very statesman who gave his name to the world's most famous flavoured tea blend. It was in the mid-1990s that the Tregothnan gardeners began to wonder whether, given the extraordinary success of ornamental Camellia on the estate, the tea plant — Camellia sinensis — might also thrive in the Cornish climate.
A Microclimate Like No Other
What makes Tregothnan possible is the unique microclimate created by the River Fal. A sixty-foot-deep tidal creek bisects the tea gardens, lying six miles inland and well away from damaging Atlantic salt winds, while the warmth of the water staves off the deep frosts that would otherwise devastate a tender tea crop. Cornwall's Gulf Stream climate, with its mild winters and moist air, closely mimics the high foothill conditions of the Himalayas — the heartland of the world's great teas. Head Gardener Jonathon Jones recognised this potential, completed a Nuffield Scholarship researching tea production from Darjeeling to Japan, and in 1999 planted the very first British tea bushes in the ancient Kitchen Garden.
From 28 Grams to England's Finest
Those early years were not without drama. Spring storms uprooted the first baby bushes and swept them clean over the garden wall, and the first harvest in 2005 yielded a humbling 28 grams of tea. Yet the quality was immediately extraordinary — the tea was heralded as the 'new Darjeeling' — and Fortnum & Mason became its very first stockist that same year. Today, up to 20,000 new tea bushes are planted at Tregothnan every year. Of the estate's 1,000 acres, only 150 meet the exacting requirements for tea growing, making Tregothnan deliberately small in scale and correspondingly precious in character. It is positioned, rightly, as one of Britain's great luxury food and drink producers.
The Tregothnan Range
Tregothnan teas are distinguished by their light, refined elegance — infusing a deep copper colour with a delicate muscatel quality and a gently refreshing finish that recalls the finest Darjeeling. The Classic Tea blends hand-plucked Cornish leaves with the finest Assam for a bold, full-bodied cup, while the Earl Grey pairs Tregothnan leaf with bergamot oil in a fitting nod to the estate's remarkable ancestral connection. The Green Tea brings together Cornish and Chinese leaves for something fresh and distinctive, and the oak-smoked variety adds a gently smoky depth unlike any other English tea. We stock a curated selection of Tregothnan teas, and they make an exceptional and original gift — a piece of living English tea history in every cup.