The History of Conservatories

December 12, 2010 | In: Architectural History

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The History of Conservatories

The History of Conservatories

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Home Page > Home Improvement > The History of Conservatories

The History of Conservatories

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Posted: Aug 11, 2009 |Comments: 0

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We all know Conservatory as an extension of a home. It can help provide extra space and a transition from a home to a garden. But where did Conservatories come from?

The term conservatory is derived from the Italian word ‘conservato’, which means stored, added to the latin term ‘ory’, which means a place for. Put them together and the word conservatory means ‘a place for storage’.

One of the first recordings of something which resembles a conservatory was by John Evelyn in 1650 in his Alysium Britannicum. He wrote about a structure that had “Corinhian capitals and wreathed columns”.

Conservatory designs have developed over the years, and the earliest known design that resembles a conservatory is back in the 17th Century. However, it was not made out of wood or plastic, it was a stone structure which had more glazed panels than those of the home they were connected to. Many of these were used to store plants and often plants from warmer climates that they wished to grow back in the colder climate of Britain.

Possibly the first conservatory in Britain was in the Oxford Botanic Garden and then a few more recorded after, including one in the Chelsea Physic Garden.

In 1825, John Nash designed four conservatories for Buckingham palace, but under King William IV’s and his new architects instruction, they were moved. One of which went to Kew in 1836 and became known as the Architectural Conservatory and is the oldest still standing in Kew.

An iron framed conservatory was created around 1840 at Chatsworth House by Sir Joseph Paxton. It covered three quarters of an acre, which at the time was the biggest glass building in the world. It needed eight boilers to hear and cost around £30,000 to build. Queen Victoria visited the building and noted in her diary that it was the “most stupendous and extraordinary creation imaginable”. Unfortunately the creation was torn down in 1920, due to needing huge quantities of coal and man power to run it.

In 1845 a tax on glass was levied, this meant that glass could be bought more widely and the panes bought could be made a bit thicker in mass than before.

In 1851 Paxton sold a conservatory idea, based on his previous design, to Prince Albert for a structure called the Crystal Palace, which was then commissioned by Robert Stephenson. This lead to the drawings being made, costs being calculated, and 22 weeks later the structure was built.

The Crystal Palace covered 19 acres – the largest enclosed space on earth at this time – and contained a whopping 293,635 panes of glass. It received over 6 million visitors, which in turn advertised the structure. Paxton later received a knighthood for the design of the building.

In 1865 Henry Bessemer invented the Bessemer converter, which enabled steel to be produced much more cheaply than before. Before this wrought iron was the main material, but because of the huge expense it wasn’t a very popular option. Steel was a good material to use and started being used as conservatory roofs.

This lead to conservatories becoming more popular in the late 19th Century with the general public.

The war must have had an impact on the development of conservatories however and twenty years in to the 1900′s a lot of conservatories that had been built previously with iron had been damaged by rust.

Over the years to come, they became gradually more and more popular, in recent times they’ve been linked with increasing house price and other benefits. They are now available in different materials and designs, ranging from the old fashioned Edwardian Conservatory design to more modern tailor-made ones.

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Craig Priestley -
About the Author:

Conservatory Outlet
0800 915 8844

http://www.conservatoryoutlet.co.uk

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