History

The Complete History of Lamellen

Samuel Furnis’ grandson, John Furnis, had one surviving child, Elizabeth Ann Moyle who married John Penberthy Magor of Penventon, Redruth. After John Furnis’ death they rebuilt the house which is now called Lamellen completing it in 1849.

John Penberthy had four children: Mary Ann who married John Thomas Henry Peter of Chyverton, Zelah; two sons who predeceased him and Edward Auriol the youngest who married Mary Caroline Chilcott of Gwendroc in 1873. Edward Auriol died in 1883 aged only 34, leaving three sons and two daughters, of whom the eldest was Edward John Penberthy Magor (EJP) born in 1874. Edward John Penberthy spent much of his boyhood at Chyverton with his ”Aunt Mamie”. He married Sarah Gillian Westmacott in 1910.

When EJP Magor came to Lamellen, the valley was pasture and parkland and the main woods were oak coppice. He started gardening at Lamellen in 1901, when the trees would have been established plants and became a great Collector. The garden benefited enormously from EJP’s friendship with Mr J C Williams of Caerhays Castle and the two of them were amongst the 16 Founder members of The Rhododendron Society formed in 1916. EJP Magor died in 1941 and his son, Edward Walter Moyle Magor (Walter) was at that time serving in India. Gilian did not feel able to live on at Lamellen by herself and the house was let until 1961. The only sad result is that very few of the many of EJP’s young hybrids and Chinese species survive at Lamellen.

Walter married Daphne Davis Graham (1939). He served in the Indian Army – Poona Horse, Political Service in India and the Colonial Service in Kenya. They returned to England in 1961 and settled back at Lamellen. Walter commuted weekly to London until his retirement in 1971. Sadly Daphne died in 1972 only a year after his retirement. Without the ten years hard work she gave to the garden it would have been another “Lost Garden”. Walter continued collecting trees particularly rhododendrons.

Walter and Daphne had two daughters. The elder daughter, Felicity Daphne Moyle, married Jeremy Deeble Peter-Hoblyn in 1964, another Cornishman. They came to Lamellen in 1974 and with Jeremy’s engineering and business skills Lamellen saw the introduction of yellow diggers creating pathways around the garden making it more of a pleasure to walk around and removing the need to be built like a mountain goat and also providing a watering system throughout the garden. A propogating unit was established in 1989 enabling Jeremy and Felicity to propogate a substantial quantity of plants from cuttings and seed.

Walter continued to live at Lamellen, until his death in 1995, with Jeremy and Felicity and their growing family of three children who are now grown up and married with their own children. Jeremy retired as Chief Executive of a USA based company in the Air Pollution Control field. He had to spend the greater part of the last 25 years travelling which left Felicity, as Daphne before, running the garden with little help (apart from the occasional yellow digger).

The Stableyard and barns were converted for accommodation for Jeremy and Felicity to allow the main house to become available as a holiday let. A new propogating tunnel was built in 2009 – 2010 to allow them to grow many rhododendrons, both species and hybrids, together with Magnolias (a passion of Jeremy’s) and other trees. We do not propogate commercially.

After Jeremy’s death in 2014, the children continue to run the family holiday lettings business. Lamellen House and the five other houses on the estate are available for holiday lets as part of an overall countryside experience, encompassing access to our wonderful gardens. We very much hope you will enjoy your stay with us and explore the surrounding area in one of the beautiful parts of North Cornwall.