Greenhouse At King Edwards Place

WANBOROUGH

984/0/10020 Greenhouse at King Edwards Place 16-MAY-06

II History: The greenhouse was erected shortly after the First World War for James White (1877-1927), a wealthy property developer and speculator, with commercial interests in London theatre and a passion for horse racing. He extended King Edward's Place (then known as Foxhill Stud Farm) by introducing further stabling, and he built a new house, two entrance lodges, and a formal garden and kitchen garden where the greenhouse was erected (see Ordnance Survey of 1923).

Description: A greenhouse with attached boiler-house erected in circa 1914 and produced by the horticultural building firm Messenger & Co Ltd in Loughborough. It is constructed of wood and glass and set on a white rendered brick base. Its rear decorative stepped wall, constructed of rendered brick, has an attached lean-to boiler house of rendered brick with a slate roof and chimney stack at its north gable end. The front of the glass house to the east has five projecting bays. The central, deepest bay has a central gabled entrance porch with a decorative cast iron finial. The two remaining bays on either side have lean-to cold frames set against the full width of their brick bases. Further entrances are at the north and south end. The one-storey lean-to boiler-house to the rear of the greenhouse has five bays, each with casement windows and a wood panelled doorway in the second bay to the right.

Interior: A rectangular well in the central bay collects rainwater via underground cast iron pipes. A cast iron pump transported water from the well into cast iron tanks in each bay. A cast iron network of heating pipes with built-in humidifying system, wooden benches, cast iron trellis work and a ratchet mechanism for operating a complex light and ventilation control system survive in situ. There are panelled doors with decorative brass door furniture and quarry tiled floors with decorative cast iron drainage covers. Decorative terracotta rope-band edging runs along the growing beds. The boiler house has two rooms on ground-floor level and there is a cellar with a coal shute.

References:

Ordnance Survey editions published in 1900 and 1923 Zurich Assurance Ltd, King Edward's Place: a brief history (1991)

Summary of Importance:

The greenhouse at King Edward's Place is a good example of an early C20 horticultural building designed and built by a reputable manufacturer, with a complex, state-of-the-art climate control system. The greenhouse has survived remarkably intact and is in full working order, which is rare for this type of building. Although a highly functional building, the greenhouse displays considerable architectural interest in its overall design and decorative detailing and forms a focal point in the garden of the adjacent King Edward's Place.