Country park

Mount Edgcumbe country park was the earliest landscaped park in Cornwall. Today it is made up of Grade I listed gardens and 55 Grade II and II* listed structures.

Some of the features of the park are:

• Barn Pool
  A sheltered deep water anchorage used by Vikings in 997. Offshore is the shipwreck Catharina von Flensburg, 1786.
• Barrow
  c.1200 BC - a Bronze Age burial mound, re-used as a "Prospect Mound" in the 18th century. A prospect mound is an artificial mound, generally conical, placed within a garden or park to provide a viewing point to overlook the garden or park.
• Blockhouse
  c.1545 - a small fort built on the shoreline in King Henry VIII's reign, to defend the mouth of the Tamar and the Edgcumbe's town of Stonehouse opposite.
• Coastguard Station at Rame
  Originally a Lloyds Signal Station, where signaling was done from passing ships to the station by flags during the day and by lights at night, it became a radio station in 1905, then transferred to the Coastguards c.1925. It is now run by Coastwatch.
• Cremyll Ferry
  c.1204 - a major ferry crossing between Devon and Cornwall since Medieval times.
• Deer Wall
  c.1695 -  a stone wall with outer ditch to protect the Amphitheatre from deer, now incomplete.
• Earl's Drive
  In early days called the Terrace. A driveway from the House round the coast to Maker Church by 1788, extended to Penlee Point by 1823.
• Folly
  1747 - an artificial ruin which replaced a navigation obelisk. Built from Medieval stone from the churches of St. George and St. Lawrence, Stonehouse.
• Formal Gardens
  c.1750 to 1820 - gardens in Italian, English and French styles. New Zealand, American (1989) and Jubilee Gardens (2003) have been added.
• Garden Battery
  c.1747 and 1863 - an 18th century saluting platform, originally mounted with 21 guns to greet visitors. Completely re-built 1863 as part of Plymouth's defences.
• Harbour View Seat
  18th century - a much damaged ornamental seat also known as White Seat, with a magnificent view north up the River Tamar.
• Higher Deer House
  19th century - in the Grotton Plantation the ruins of a two storey fodder store for deer; and the ruined 18th century Pebble Seat facing south.
• Ice House
  c.1800 - under the bridge leading to the House (only open on special occasions).
• Maker Church
  First mentioned in 1186, enlarged in the 15th century. The family church of the Edgcumbes.
• Milton's Temple
  1755 - a circular Ionic temple, with a plaque inscribed with lines from the poem Paradise Lost, "overhead up grew, Insuperable heights of loftiest shade....." John Milton, (1608 - 1674).
• The Orangery
  Situated in the Italian Garden the Orangery is thought to have been built as early as 1760. The building is now a fully licensed restaurant.
• Penlee Battery
  1892 - the remains of a Victorian fort armed with 3 guns in both World Wars. A granite sculpture by Greg Powlesland, 1995, is in this nature reserve.
• Picklecombe Seat
  A seat made from a Medieval doorway and enclosing a small niche with a piscina at the back. The carved stone comes from the churches of St. George and St. Lawrence at Stonehouse.
• Queen Adelaide's Grotto
  18th century cave used as a watch house, enhanced with an arched stone building after Adelaide's visit, 1827.
• Rame Church
  Rebuilt from a Norman church in 1239, and enlarged in the 15th century.
• Red Seat
  19th century - a ruinous rest house, sometimes called the Kiosk, which was painted red. Below is another ruined seat known as Indian Cottage or The Verandah.
• Stables
  c.1850 - The stables, dairy, smithy, sawmill and stores, all essential to the running of the estate. (not open to the public).
• St. Julian's Well
  Tiny 15th century chapel and holy well, restored c.1890.
• St. Michael's Chapel
  14th century - A chapel and simple lighthouse, with a beacon site nearby. Across the neck of the headland are the earthworks of an Iron Age fort.
• West Lodge and Arch
  The Arch may have been built to mark the creation of the Viscount in 1781.
• South West Coastal Footpath
  This goes through Mount Edgcumbe
• Thompson's Seat
  c1760 - a Doric pavilion with seats looking across to Plymouth Sound.  Verses from Thompson's "The Seasons" are inscribed on the wall.
• Zig-Zags
  c.1760 - the Zig-Zag walks were famous in the 18th and 19th century as "The Horrors". Intricate paths on a dramatic cliff, surrounded by exotic shrubs. The lower cliff paths and some stone seats have been lost in cliff falls.
• Deer on Peninsula
  In 1515 Sir Piers Edgcumbe was given permission by King Henry VIII to empark deer. Their descendents roam freely on the Peninsula to this day.

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