Why is it called 'The Fernery' ?

A Fernery is the name for a collection of ferns - either in a Wardian case, a greenhouse or a special area of a garden. They came about during the Victorian 'Fern Frenzy' between 1841 and 1891.

A great Victorian craze, pteridomania (pterido being Latin for ferns) was the huge love affair for ferns and all things fern-like in Britain between 1840s and 1890s. The term ‘pteridomania’ was coined in 1855 by Charles Kingsley, author of ‘The Water Babies’, in his book ‘Glaucus, or the Wonders of the Shore’.
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The Victorian era was the heyday of the amateur naturalist. However Ferns were not just the obsession of a few professional botanists, nor even of the thousands of amateur gardeners and naturalists, but held a popular fascination for much of society. If you decorated and furnished your house, went to the seaside, strolled in pleasure gardens, patronized the theatre and concerts, visited exhibitions, read novels, played music, or spent time in a hospital, you encountered ferns and ferneries. Pteridomania is generally considered a British eccentricity, but while it lasted, fern madness invaded all aspects of Victorian life. Ferns and fern motifs appeared everywhere; in homes, gardens, art and literature. Their images adorned rugs, tea sets, chamber pots, garden benches – even custard cream biscuits!!!!!!
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Devon provided such ideal conditions for the cultivation of ferns and was so productive of species and varieties that it is not surprising that fern nurseries were established in the county to satisfy the needs of fern enthusiasts who visited the area or to provide a mail-order service for those who could not visit.

​However, it is surprising that a relatively small part of the North Devon was the location for the only three professional fern nurseries in the entire West Country during a period from the 1850s until about 1890  -  and two of them at least carried on in a less specialist form into the 1900s. 

Two of the three fern nurseries were based in Ilfracombe - so Ifracombe was the epicentre of pteridomania. This was much assisted by the railway line which used to run on the other side of the valley opposite the Fernery bringing Pteridomaniacs from all over the country. 

The two Ilfracombe nurseries were run by John Dadds and John Lewis (no - not the retailer).

John Dadds started collecting ferns in about 1852 when he was still an agricultural labourer. He probably started his fern nursery in the late 1860s and he described himself in subsequent advertisements as  'Dadds's North Devon Fernery and Rosary'. 

The other fern nursery - John Lewis's - is now our property - The Fernery! 

​He opened it in about 1870 but he had retired by 1881 and the nursery was run by his son-in-law, Thomas Snell.

By 1910 the nursery was owned by Sydney Croft who built the oldest of the three houses in the Fernery complex - Croft the Fernery.

In 2007 the final remaining glasshouses at the Slade site were demolished so that two modern eco houses -  No.1 and No.2 The Fernery - could be built. These were finished in 2008.

As you walk around the garden today you will see many varieties of ferns naturally bursting out everywhere - you can't keep a good fern down in Devon!

In a nod to the history of the site you will also see many pictures of ferns in our downstairs hallway and the downstairs 'Fernery' bedroom - and ferns will also pop up in other places as you use all the facilities - so be on the look out.