The Rippon Lea Fernery is one of the world’s great garden features. It is one of the best surviving examples of a grand fern house from the ‘Golden Age’ of gardening.
There is nothing else quite like it.
In the 19th century the garden world was in the grip of a fern craze known as ‘Pteridomania’. Fern collecting was all the rage and this was a hobby pursued by all levels of society.
The Rippon Lea Fernery was built by Frederick Sargood in the 1880s to house his extensive fern collection. The size and scale of Sargood’s private Fernery rivalled those of the major public botanic gardens.
The Fernery is around 15m high and 40m long. The steel and timber structure provides shade to protect the delicate ferns. Beneath this, a ‘fern gully’ was created, complete with stream, waterfalls and hidden grottos.
The Fernery contains over 100 different species of ferns from Australia and around the world.
As ferns became less fashionable and ferneries fell into disrepair, the majority of grand Victorian ferneries were demolished.
The Rippon Lea Fernery is a rare treasure and, we think, the jewel in the crown of this wonderful garden!
