Cremyll

This village, which is linked to Plymouth by a foot ferry first started in about 1204, is an excellent place from which to explore Mount Edgcumbe House, the 16th century home of the Earls of Edgcumbe who moved here from Cotehele House, near Calstock. Mount Edgcumbe is a winning combination of Tudor house, landscaped gardens and acres of beautiful rolling parkland alongside the sea. Though the house is a reconstruction of the Tudor original that was gutted by incendiary bombs in 1941, the inside is predominantely 18th century, with authentic Regency furniture in the elegantly restored rooms. The contents include paintings by Sir Joshua Reynolds, Irish Bronze Age horns, 16th century tapestries and 18th century Chinese and Plymouth porcelain. In the adjacent Earl’s Garden are several ancient and rare trees, notably a 400-year-old lime and a Mexican pine. The extensive, magnificent grounds, which incorporate land from Cremyll westwards along the peninsula to Tregonhawke, include the historic 18th century gardens that contain an orangery, and Italian, French, English, American and New Zealand gardens. Since 1976, Mount Edgcumbe has housed the National Camellia Collection. The Country Park, which takes in a stretch of heritage coastline, has freely roaming fallow deer and numerous buildings sited to create views and atmosphere.