Bevendean History Project
Stanmer Nursery History continued
The
Stanmer Estate was purchased in 1947 by Brighton Corporation as a
safeguard for part of their water supplies. The cost was £225,000
less a substantial claim for military dilapidation. The estate covered
5,011 acres of mostly farmland but also includes about 500 acres of
fine commercial woodland, a rare Downland feature. It also contains six
farms, a number of smallholdings, the villages of Stanmer and Falmer, a
public park and numerous rights of way across the Downs.
The Stanmer nursery owes its origin to the uneconomic conditions which necessarily applied when the department's plants were raised in three widely scattered nurseries on land so steep that even tractor ploughing was impossible.
The site used was the walled kitchen garden and orchard which originally served Stanmer House, together with two meadows, used as the shrub nursery and hardy plant nursery. On ground sloping gently to the south, it was protected by a hill and Great Wood from the prevailing south-west winds.
The scheme was presented to the Brighton Council in 1953 Alderman S. Davey, Chairman of the Parks Committee. The cost was £46,000. It saved the labour of eight men — roughly paying the loan charges on this sum. Later it became necessary to construct additional glasshouses and frames to meet the increased demand for bedding and pot plants at a cost of £5,000.
The nursery covers about 36 acres and was divided into the following main sections: —
1. Trees and Shrubs
Propagation was carried out in two heated glasshouses and two ranges of cold Dutch light frames. A mist propagation unit was also installed in one of the glasshouses to assist production in this section of the nursery. About 40,000 trees and shrubs were grown annually for the planting of housing estates, new schools, parks, replacements and other purposes. Special emphasis was laid on those shrubs resistant to wind and salt spray and those suited to light chalky soil. Area 13 acres.
2. Hardy Plants
Some 400,000 plants were grown every year for spring displays the majority being Wallflowers. Trials were carried out to try to overcome the problem of transplanting by spaced sowing with precision seed drills and the use of herbicides to control weeds among the seedling plants.
In addition to the spring flowering plants, over 5,000 early flowering chrysanthemums and asters were grown in this section.
It was also a practice to grow on 50,000 small tulip bulbs for use in future displays.
Irrigation
The hardy plant and shrub nurseries were intersected by a 3" water main. Because of the height of this ground, it has been necessary to fit a 10 h.p. electrically driven centrifugal booster pump in order to maintain an adequate pressure of water. The main had ten irrigation connection points and chambers to which the irrigation pipes could be fitted. The Wright Rain System was used and consists of portable 2" diameter aluminium pipes in 20 ft. lengths. A sprinkler rotated slowly by water pressure was fitted to each unit giving a covering spray 60 ft. in diameter. The system was capable of applying 0.6 ins. of water per hour.
3. Glasshouses
The glasshouse range embodies a number of unique features which had not been used previously in municipal nurseries.
(a) The first large range of this type of glasshouses in the country.
(b) Installation of automatic ventilation.
(c) The incorporation of both space heating and high velocity hot water heating systems.
(d) A compensator controlled automatic heating system.
Other features include:
1. Stove enamelled aluminium framework needing no maintenance.
2. Dutch light glass (28" x 56") and the semi-dodecagonal construction ensures the maximum amount of light enters the glasshouse.
3. P.V.C. glazing grooves absorb any expansion or contraction of the metal framework.
4. Braced support construction obviates the need for purlin posts.
5. Fans in the larger houses ensure a complete air change every minute, thus reducing plant scorch and assisting in the hardening off of bedding plants.
6. Watering by a trigger operated lance attached to a hosepipe saves the constant refilling of watering cans — equal to the labour of two men per annum.
7. Mist propagation units.
Heating Systems
(a) Space heating.
Used in the larger houses where relatively low temperatures were needed for growing summer bedding plants. The heating unit was a Zephair space heater rated at 250,000 B.T.U./H. mounted in the centre of the greenhouse. Space heaters were chosen because of their low capital cost; the short heat requirement (February to May) and the low maximum temperature required (50°F.)
(b) Hot water.
The heat source consisted of two Ideal 1¾ million B.T.U./H. sectional boilers fitted with Urquhart oil burners using 200 sec. fuel oil. The water was driven through a 6" main pipe by two circular pumps, each rated at 170 gallons per minute. The mains run across the length of and under the centre of each greenhouse, thus halving the loops of piping and ensuring a more even temperature along the whole length of piping. The heating pipes were mainly 1" and 2" diameter and some in the Palm house were 4" diameter.
The flow temperature was controlled by a compensator or potentiometer attached to an outside wall. This was sensitive in the same way as the glasshouse to heat, cold, rain or wind and controls the flow temperature accordingly. Thus, fuel was saved by cutting out the time lag where thermostats in the glasshouses control the water temperature.
In the event of the failure of the public electricity supply a generator motor had been installed and an alarm bell fitted to warn of a failure in the system.
Potting Shed
This shed had been designed so that the handling of the compost followed a logical sequence. Loam, peat and sand were received at one end, the sterilizing unit was next with mixing space in the middle and nearest the potting shed were the bays for the mixed compost. The potting benches were covered with rubber to promote hygiene and ease of working; pots and boxes were stored in racks nearby. The building also contains an office, messroom, toilets and storerooms.
The Glasshouse Function
The entire glasshouse range which covers 41,976 sq. ft. with 9.600 sq. ft. heated and cold frames, has two functions:
(a) To raise summer bedding for floral displays in the parks. Carried out mainly in the few larger houses consists of the production of 110,000 plants.
(b) To provide a supply of plants throughout the year for floral decorations at municipal functions. The number of plants used for this purpose is approximately 100,000; in addition, there is a collection of economic and stove plants in the palm house, which apart from their decorative value provide interest to students and other visitors to the nursery.
Training Centre
In 1966 a training centre was opened to provide basic instruction in horticulture for young people wishing to make a career in public parks and recreation.
The centre consists of two classrooms and a fully equipped glasshouse for experimental purposes. One and a half acres of land had been set aside for practical demonstration plots; these included fruit and vegetables as well as a wide range of decorative plants.
The training programme, which was run jointly by the Education and Parks Departments was based on a three year course covering the City and Guilds and National Joint Council Examinations. The weekly lectures and practical demonstrations were attended by over fifty student gardeners from Brighton and the surrounding districts.
Stanmer Nursery Plan - The plant and turf nursery are shaded green, the shrub and tree nursery are shaded yellow. Keep Reference: DB/D/62/188
Pleasure Gardens
The development of Stanmer House grounds and the adjoining woodlands had been commenced in the 1950s with the view to providing interesting and attractive gardens where only really good garden plants which have been highly awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society were to be grown.
Features to be included were a 100 yard long herbaceous border and island beds, a rock garden, a water and bog garden together with collections of flowering shrubs and naturalised bulbs.
A woodland garden had also been planted consisting of as large as possible collection of trees which would grow on the chalky soils in the South of England. It was planned as a living catalogue of these plants, ranging from Acer to Zelkova.
Stanmer Nursery Greenhouse Requirements
The Stanmer nursery owes its origin to the uneconomic conditions which necessarily applied when the department's plants were raised in three widely scattered nurseries on land so steep that even tractor ploughing was impossible.
The site used was the walled kitchen garden and orchard which originally served Stanmer House, together with two meadows, used as the shrub nursery and hardy plant nursery. On ground sloping gently to the south, it was protected by a hill and Great Wood from the prevailing south-west winds.
The scheme was presented to the Brighton Council in 1953 Alderman S. Davey, Chairman of the Parks Committee. The cost was £46,000. It saved the labour of eight men — roughly paying the loan charges on this sum. Later it became necessary to construct additional glasshouses and frames to meet the increased demand for bedding and pot plants at a cost of £5,000.
The nursery covers about 36 acres and was divided into the following main sections: —
1. Trees and Shrubs
Propagation was carried out in two heated glasshouses and two ranges of cold Dutch light frames. A mist propagation unit was also installed in one of the glasshouses to assist production in this section of the nursery. About 40,000 trees and shrubs were grown annually for the planting of housing estates, new schools, parks, replacements and other purposes. Special emphasis was laid on those shrubs resistant to wind and salt spray and those suited to light chalky soil. Area 13 acres.
2. Hardy Plants
Some 400,000 plants were grown every year for spring displays the majority being Wallflowers. Trials were carried out to try to overcome the problem of transplanting by spaced sowing with precision seed drills and the use of herbicides to control weeds among the seedling plants.
In addition to the spring flowering plants, over 5,000 early flowering chrysanthemums and asters were grown in this section.
It was also a practice to grow on 50,000 small tulip bulbs for use in future displays.
Irrigation
The hardy plant and shrub nurseries were intersected by a 3" water main. Because of the height of this ground, it has been necessary to fit a 10 h.p. electrically driven centrifugal booster pump in order to maintain an adequate pressure of water. The main had ten irrigation connection points and chambers to which the irrigation pipes could be fitted. The Wright Rain System was used and consists of portable 2" diameter aluminium pipes in 20 ft. lengths. A sprinkler rotated slowly by water pressure was fitted to each unit giving a covering spray 60 ft. in diameter. The system was capable of applying 0.6 ins. of water per hour.
3. Glasshouses
The glasshouse range embodies a number of unique features which had not been used previously in municipal nurseries.
(a) The first large range of this type of glasshouses in the country.
(b) Installation of automatic ventilation.
(c) The incorporation of both space heating and high velocity hot water heating systems.
(d) A compensator controlled automatic heating system.
Other features include:
1. Stove enamelled aluminium framework needing no maintenance.
2. Dutch light glass (28" x 56") and the semi-dodecagonal construction ensures the maximum amount of light enters the glasshouse.
3. P.V.C. glazing grooves absorb any expansion or contraction of the metal framework.
4. Braced support construction obviates the need for purlin posts.
5. Fans in the larger houses ensure a complete air change every minute, thus reducing plant scorch and assisting in the hardening off of bedding plants.
6. Watering by a trigger operated lance attached to a hosepipe saves the constant refilling of watering cans — equal to the labour of two men per annum.
7. Mist propagation units.
Heating Systems
(a) Space heating.
Used in the larger houses where relatively low temperatures were needed for growing summer bedding plants. The heating unit was a Zephair space heater rated at 250,000 B.T.U./H. mounted in the centre of the greenhouse. Space heaters were chosen because of their low capital cost; the short heat requirement (February to May) and the low maximum temperature required (50°F.)
(b) Hot water.
The heat source consisted of two Ideal 1¾ million B.T.U./H. sectional boilers fitted with Urquhart oil burners using 200 sec. fuel oil. The water was driven through a 6" main pipe by two circular pumps, each rated at 170 gallons per minute. The mains run across the length of and under the centre of each greenhouse, thus halving the loops of piping and ensuring a more even temperature along the whole length of piping. The heating pipes were mainly 1" and 2" diameter and some in the Palm house were 4" diameter.
The flow temperature was controlled by a compensator or potentiometer attached to an outside wall. This was sensitive in the same way as the glasshouse to heat, cold, rain or wind and controls the flow temperature accordingly. Thus, fuel was saved by cutting out the time lag where thermostats in the glasshouses control the water temperature.
In the event of the failure of the public electricity supply a generator motor had been installed and an alarm bell fitted to warn of a failure in the system.
Potting Shed
This shed had been designed so that the handling of the compost followed a logical sequence. Loam, peat and sand were received at one end, the sterilizing unit was next with mixing space in the middle and nearest the potting shed were the bays for the mixed compost. The potting benches were covered with rubber to promote hygiene and ease of working; pots and boxes were stored in racks nearby. The building also contains an office, messroom, toilets and storerooms.
The Glasshouse Function
The entire glasshouse range which covers 41,976 sq. ft. with 9.600 sq. ft. heated and cold frames, has two functions:
(a) To raise summer bedding for floral displays in the parks. Carried out mainly in the few larger houses consists of the production of 110,000 plants.
(b) To provide a supply of plants throughout the year for floral decorations at municipal functions. The number of plants used for this purpose is approximately 100,000; in addition, there is a collection of economic and stove plants in the palm house, which apart from their decorative value provide interest to students and other visitors to the nursery.
Training Centre
In 1966 a training centre was opened to provide basic instruction in horticulture for young people wishing to make a career in public parks and recreation.
The centre consists of two classrooms and a fully equipped glasshouse for experimental purposes. One and a half acres of land had been set aside for practical demonstration plots; these included fruit and vegetables as well as a wide range of decorative plants.
The training programme, which was run jointly by the Education and Parks Departments was based on a three year course covering the City and Guilds and National Joint Council Examinations. The weekly lectures and practical demonstrations were attended by over fifty student gardeners from Brighton and the surrounding districts.
Stanmer Nursery Plan - The plant and turf nursery are shaded green, the shrub and tree nursery are shaded yellow. Keep Reference: DB/D/62/188
Pleasure Gardens
The development of Stanmer House grounds and the adjoining woodlands had been commenced in the 1950s with the view to providing interesting and attractive gardens where only really good garden plants which have been highly awarded by the Royal Horticultural Society were to be grown.
Features to be included were a 100 yard long herbaceous border and island beds, a rock garden, a water and bog garden together with collections of flowering shrubs and naturalised bulbs.
A woodland garden had also been planted consisting of as large as possible collection of trees which would grow on the chalky soils in the South of England. It was planned as a living catalogue of these plants, ranging from Acer to Zelkova.
Stanmer Nursery Greenhouse Requirements
