Page 136 - The Building Conservation Directory 2013

1 3 6 t h e b u i l d i n g c o n s e r vat i o n d i r e c t o r y 2 0 1 3 T w e n t i e t h a N N i v e r s a r y e d i t i o n
3.4
Structure & Fabric : External WorksGlasshouses
History and conservation of Victorian and Edwardian
greenhouses and cold frames
Robert Jameson
Prior to the mid 19th century a
‘glasshouse’ was an object of awe to
the majority of the population. The
combination of the window tax (imposed
on dwellings) and the glass tax (levied by
weight) made even the smallest conservatory
remarkable and put glasshouses far beyond the
reach of the average squire. The construction
of large glasshouses designed by the likes of
Joseph Paxton (1803–65) were strictly for the
social elite, and their commissioning was a
powerful expression of wealth and status.
The word ‘glasshouse’ evokes the grand
kitchen gardens of the major estates, but in
the Victorian period efforts were soon made
to satisfy increasing demand from the rising
middle classes. Manufacturers produced plain,
functional, self-assembly glasshouses for this
emerging market.
Surviving glasshouses and their
surrounding gardens represent a unique
legacy of Victorian and Edwardian society.
Significant in terms of their architecture and
design, they are also expressions of social and
industrial progress during those periods.
Developments
The rapid emergence of glasshouses was due
to a combination of factors. Social changes
brought about by new wealth generated
from the industrial revolution and Britain’s
expanding empire enabled an increasing
number of people to pay for such luxuries.
The demand for glasshouses also increased in
response to the fashion for cultivating exotic
plants, and the need to extend the growing
season for more ordinary food for home
consumption.
Meanwhile, the repeal of the glass
tax in 1845 and of the window tax in 1851
dramatically reduced the cost of glasshouses,
as did manufacturing innovations of the
industrial revolution. The principal technical
advances that were incorporated into the
manufacture of glasshouses included:
• innovations in the machine tool industry
• the mass production of paints
• mechanisation of brick manufacture
• greatly increased production
of wrought and cast iron
• growth of the railway network, enabling
the efficient distribution of goods
• improved shipping, reducing the
cost of imported timber.
Design
Earlier bespoke designs, which used larger
and heavier components and so admitted less
sunlight, were rapidly displaced by standard
products of much lighter construction.
Iron framed buildings and composite
wood and iron framed buildings began
to be manufactured as new materials and
production methods were introduced.
Extensive product ranges soon developed,
some for very specific purposes and others for
a variety of uses. Houses for the cultivation
and display of exotic and ornamental plants
varied significantly from those built for the
more functional production of food. Products
included conservatories, display houses,
palm houses, vineries, ferneries, orangeries,
cut flower houses, peach houses, hot houses
and cold frames. Glasshouses of all types
have survived along with ancillary buildings
including potting sheds, tool sheds, cutting
rooms, mushroom houses, fruit and other
storage facilities.
Winter gardens became very popular in
larger establishments, often being attached
directly to the main house (other glasshouses
tended to be further away). Winter gardens
were essentially large conservatories which
allowed residents and visitors to take exercise
in bad weather.
Glasshouses can be divided into two
simple categories, large and small. The larger
permanent group includes greenhouses,
conservatories and hot houses, which were
generally constructed to one of the following
patterns:
• lean-to: the cheapest design, with the
structure built against a high south-facing
A typical walled garden with conservatories down one side, in this case at Heligan, Cornwall