The great conservatories

This week it’s:

TO most of us, a ‘conservatory’ is simply the uPVC structure we’ve plonked on to the backs of our houses, to give us more living space, a little more sunshine in our homes, and to enable us to enjoy the garden more while still being indoors.

Modern conservatories are mostly squarish, ‘blocky’ and white, with sloping polycarbonate roofs. They’re quite boring, actually, and in design terms they have no commonality with the elegant conservatories of large stately homes 300 years ago. These were ornate, grand structures, made of cast metal. They also frequently had hot, warm and cooler sections for growing different kinds of plants. Let’s look at some conservatory stories, and a few plants to go inside them.