A shot from our daughter Lucy today, and a view of the Chiswick House Conservatory. She hadn't planned a visit here, but she had promised to take her daughter on a train ride. The trains on the route she had planned were very overcrowded due to a sporting event, so she had a quick change of plan, and a rather shorter trip to Chiswick to enjoy the grounds of Chiswick House.
This conservatory is an important historical building, and provides an impressive camelia display in the spring. The following is a summary of the history from the chiswickhouseandgardens.org.uk website:
"The Conservatory was commissioned by the 6th Duke of Devonshire, the great-grandson of Lord Burlington, and is home to our heritage camellia collection, which bloom marvelously every March. It was designed by Samuel Ware, who also built Burlington Arcade in Piccadilly, and was completed in 1813. At 300ft long, it was one of the earliest large glass houses to be built and thus a forerunner of Decimus Burton’s glass house at Kew and Joseph Paxton’s Crystal Palace.
The Conservatory was originally used for growing fruit – vines, peaches, figs and possibly pineapples in the end pavilions. As such, the building was divided into a series of compartments, which were heated to maintain different climates, so fruit could ripen successively instead of all at once. This endeavour took six coal-fired furnaces and used over 100 tons of coal a year! Then, in 1828, the 6th Duke made a fashionable switch away from produce and introduced camellias. Purchasing them from the 1831 Chandler and Sons Plant Catalogue, which saw the first varieties of Camellia introduced to England.
Subsequently, in 1855 he extensively modernised the Conservatory, replacing the heating system and switching from small panes of glass to large panels, which were only just appearing on the market. The Conservatory needed, and still needs, constant maintenance. Even as early as 1850, Charles Edmonds (Head Gardener from 1838 – 1878) was expressing concern about its poor condition. By 1930 the Conservatory was in danger of collapse, owned then by Middlesex County Council, and in 1932/3 was substantially rebuilt by the firm of Messenger & Company; one of the last Messenger glass house constructions ever made. It was then damaged by bombs during World War II (including having one fall through the roof, which luckily did not explode) but patched up, between that time and its next repair in 1983.
The Conservatory then fell into ruin in the late 20th Century, until the International Camellia Society stepped in to save the camellias and helped pave the way to the Heritage Lottery Fund, restoration project in 2007 – 2010, which saw the building virtually dismantled, conserved and reassembled. Today, the Conservatory, bar the occasional leak, is structurally sound but does generate a substantial repair and maintenance bill each year, including £1500 for the window cleaning alone! "
Gorgeous structure. Chiswick House Grounds is one of my most favourite open spaces, but I haven't visited in years, it being the other side of London to me.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, Lucy will be thrilled with them.
I think Chiswick Gardens are amongst my favourite open spaces, though I do have to admit to a great love of Regents Park as well. I'm hoping it won't be too long before I feel confident to undertake long railway journeys again, and hopefully visit Lucy and her family and explore parts of London around where she lives.
Ian
June 8th, 2022
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Great info too, fascinating stuff.
Thank you all for your lovely comments and favs, Lucy will be thrilled with them.
I think Chiswick Gardens are amongst my favourite open spaces, though I do have to admit to a great love of Regents Park as well. I'm hoping it won't be too long before I feel confident to undertake long railway journeys again, and hopefully visit Lucy and her family and explore parts of London around where she lives.
Ian