Ever since man has been on this planet we have set our minds to taming the environment in any way possible, in order to make our lives easier, from the earliest hunter-gatherers using animal skins to keep warm and stone tools to hunt, to the husbandry of plants and animals. With the advent of agriculture we learned that growing plants required specific environmental conditions. Controlling the weather has proved one of mankind’s most difficult challenges…

The basic principle behind a greenhouse is straightforward; visible radiation from the sun enters through the transparent covering material and is absorbed by the plants and anything inside the structure. The interior surfaces radiate heat and warm the air trapped inside. However, the modern Greenhouse we enjoy today is, like many things, the cumulative result of improvements in design and material technology which have taken place over a long period.

Restored Iron work undertaken for a greenhouse we installed in Cheshire.

 The use of Greenhouses can be traced back through European history for several centuries, but for the origins of the greenhouse you have to go back as far as the Romans, who are commonly credited with its inception. Perhaps the earliest known accounts of something like a greenhouse date back to the reign of the Emperor Tiberius (42BC to 37AD) who had cucumbers grown in a “Specularium”. Well before the invention of glass, the structure was painstakingly glazed with thousands of tiny sheets of translucent mica or selenite crystals.

More modern greenhouses were built in Italy in the Thirteenth Century, to house exotic plants brought back from the tropics by early explorers, and were called ‘giardini botanici’ (botanical gardens). The concept of greenhouses spread through Europe, and the exciting new plants that could be cultivated inside spread with them. Without the benefit of modern materials and ventilation technology these early greenhouses often had problems with climate control; they were difficult to keep at an adequate, balanced temperature, and often required a great deal of time and effort to close up at night, or get ready for the winter.

An original Victorian greenhouse (1911)

The golden era of the greenhouse was in England during Victorian age, where the grandest glasshouses yet conceived were constructed, as the wealthy upper class competed to build the most elaborate buildings. The soaring conservatory at Kew gardens is a prime example of a Victorian greenhouse, as is London’s Crystal palace (although the latter was constructed for both horticultural and non-horticultural exhibition).  

The modern concept of a greenhouse is both elegant and practical. Increased automation has reduced the amount of time and effort required to run a greenhouse, and improvements in material technology ensure the consumer that their greenhouse will stand the test of time. No longer simply the private domain of the wealthy, a traditionally styled greenhouse from White Cottage is an affordable and worthwhile addition to your property which can be tailored to suit any garden, large or small.

Available in a range of specifications and designs, we have something to suit everyone, professional horticulturalist or discerning hobby gardener alike.

The replacement greenhouse (2011)