VICTORIANA WINS IN GRIFFIN GLASSHOUSES’S 50TH YEAR
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Sales of bespoke structures from Griffin Glasshouses in its 50th year have been at record levels and the key driver has been continued consumer demand for the Victorian style which led to a new development this year.
The key reminders of this historic period are highly decorative spandrels, steep pitches to roofs, narrow glass panes and highly styled finials and ridges. In an effort to reinforce this the company launched a new roof specifically for lean-to constructions with a 35-degree roof pitch.
“It is more practical to fit as a lean-to without compromising the Victorian style,” says Linda Lane, manging director of Griffin Glasshouses.
In 2015 the company launched new Victorian styles work-benches with high decorative cast aluminium legs.
“It is all part of this increasing demand from gardeners for a nostalgic look to their glasshouses but made using thoroughly 21st Century no-maintenance materials. They are all produced from the highest quality, maintenance free aluminium at the Ropley factory. All bolts and fixings are completely hidden and the frames powder coated to any colour the customer chooses,” says Linda.
She is the daughter of the founder of the business and today is helped by her cousin, Paul Smith, technical director, and her brother Peter who is installations director.
Other factors in the company’s success have been the National Garden Scheme collection of glasshouses and customer demand driven by exhibiting at the Chelsea and Hampton Court flower shows.
“We have had some amazing bespoke commissions including replicating the historic glasshouses at Cardigan Castle and designing and building structures to accommodate a mini mountain for a customer’s prized collection of Alpine plants. We have also designed and built our smallest glasshouse to date which had a footprint of just 2.1m x 1.5m” adds Linda.
CREATING A MODERN GLASSHOUSE WITH 844 YEARS OF HISTORY
Although there are earlier references to a castle at Cardigan, Rhys ap Gruffyd – Lord Rhys – moved his court there in 1171 and began to rebuild it in stone for the first time.
So, with more than 844 years of history, designing and building a 21st Century glasshouse in Cardigan Castle’s kitchen garden was not without its challenges.
It has been owned by Ceredigion County Council since 2003 and run by Cadwgan Building Preservtion Trust. Their brief to bespoke glasshouse designers and builders, Griffin Glasshouses, was to create a like-for-like replacements to the remains of the Victorian original.
“This has been one of the most fascinating and delightful challenges in our 50-year history,” explained Linda Lane, managing director of the family owned business. “In addition to it looking like the original it had to be totally modern and maintenance free.”
The glasshouse was completed last year and is a stepped and tapered design measuring just 2 metres at its narrowest point and widening out to 3.9m. It is 10.2m long and is built against the same brick wall as the original structure. This is where the similarities end.
“Our new version is fitted with growing benches and has electrically operated ventilation and an internal water harvesting system that collects the rain in an internal tank. The water is hand-pumped up for irrigation.
“The finish of the aluminium structure is pebble grey to match the colour of the castle windows. The glasshouse has typical Victorian styles steep pitches and narrow panes of glass. Maintenance, apart from cleaning the glass, is simply a regular hose down to keep the permanent pain finish looking fresh”, says Linda.
“Although we have no direct proof our family name, Griffin, has clear Welsh associations and may derive from the Old Welsh personal name “Gruffyd” which has connections with the dragon, which is also our family and business crest. We may now be based in rural Hampshire but working at Cardigan Castle has been a bit of a homecoming for us,” explains Linda.
Gardener Mark Dellar said: “We are very pleased with the look of the greenhouse – it fits perfectly into this traditional Victorian walled garden.”
