Greenhouse Gardening – On A Grand Scale
In age of expansion and industrial revolution, when engineers and inventors were practically idolized, it is not surprising that greenhouse and conservatory development also benefited. From the middle of the seventeenth century in Europe, and especially in England, there began social and economic changes that brought about the mechanization of production. By the middle of the following century, changes were gaining speed and by the 1850’s the pattern of industrial production practically complete.
Joseph Paxton, later knighted, was the father of “grand-scale” conservatories. In the 1830’s he designed and constructed one measuring 83m/272ft long by 37m/121ft wide and 20m/66ft high at Chatsworth, the home of the Duke of Devonshire. A few years later he designed the Exhibition Building in Hyde Park, opened in 1851 and soon Christened the “Crystal Palace” by the magazine “Punch”. More than six million people visited the exhibition. Large-scale developments also took place in Europe.
On the grand scale, few greenhouses have been as extensive as those at Versailles, a few miles west of Paris. In 1685, a huge orangery was constructed, 155m/509ft long, 12.8m/42ft wide and 13.7m/45ft high. It had a south-facing wall, plenty of windows and a solid roof, and housed more than 1200 orange trees and hundreds of other plants.
