Mount Edgcumbe, Cornwall

Cornwall Council.
The house was originally Tudor, with later modifications, but during WWII it was hit by incendiary bombs, burnt out and largely destroyed. Commencing in 1958, the house was rebuilt for the 6th Earl using a steel frame and concrete floors. However the house and estate were bought jointly by Plymouth City Council and Cornwall County Council in 1971. The 865 acres of magnificent grounds and gardens became a country park.
The site is overlooking the Tamar estuary, just across the water from Plymouth. The house stands quite high up, while the large and lavishly planted formal gardens are near the shore and the ferry. The parkland, with deer park, walks, ruins and follies, is so big that even the most energetic visitor could walk his or her legs off trying to see it all. There is car parking at service buildings close to the house.
The house and contents are worth seeing, and the gardens are Grade I listed. The interiors of the reconstructed downstairs rooms are very fine, with period furniture and other items. Upstairs on my latest visit I found a 3-room exhibition of a shipwreck. Besides the large formal gardens already mentioned, next to the house (and included in the house admission) is the Earl’s garden.
All this merits a whole-day visit, but visitors who are travelling some distance may be tempted to take in the nearby Antony (NT) or Port Eliot (private) as well.