Tolerates down to -10deg. C perfectly well - as long as its in a sheltered position, say near a fence, out of cold north easterly winds, and preferably with other shrubs/plants growing around and about. Likes dampish soil and a fair bit of shade.

That is the problem, Bamboo, it like dampish soils but cannot withstand the soil being frozen for several weeks. This is what happened to our Crinodendron - we cut it down to the ground today.

Oh dear, sorry to hear yours hasn't recovered. Two things though - I know Cheshire is colder than London, but you are most certainly colder up there than Cheshire - and we had an exceptional winter this year.

The ground where the Crinodendron was froze as himself says for well over a month... This is the only shrub we lost, interestingly on cutting in down to the ground - in the hope it will grow back from the bottom - we realised how much it had obscured plants like the podophyllum that were behind it and we could only see by walking along a narrow back path. Right now I'm almost hoping it doesn't regenerate and we'll plant a new Crinodendron in a different position.