Gardens and Gardening in a fast-changing urban environment: Manchester 1750-1850 A Thesis submitted to Manchester Metropolitan University for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Joy Margaret Uings April 2013 MIRIAD, Manchester Metropolitan University List of Contents Abstract i Acknowledgments ii Tables, maps and images iv The Growth of Manchester and its suburbs 1750-1850 1 Introduction 3 Literature Review 11 History of Manchester 11 Class and Gender 15 Garden Design 22 Horticulture, Floriculture and Nurseries 28 Methodology 35 Chapter One: Horticultural Trade 45 Gardeners and nurserymen 46 Seedsmen and florists 48 Fruiterers and confectioners 51 Manchester and the North-west 52 1750-1790 53 1790-1830 57 1830-1850 61 Post 1850 71 Connections 73 Summary 77 Chapter Two: Plants 79 Forest trees 79 Fruit trees 89 Evergreen and flowering shrubs 97 Florist’s flowers 99 Exotic (hothouse) plants 107 Hardy plants 109 Vegetables 110 Agricultural Seeds 112 The fascination with unusual plants 114 The effect of weather on plants 117 Plant thefts 120 Summary 125 Chapter Three: Environmental Changes 127 Development of the town 128 Development of the suburbs 135 Smoke pollution 145 Summary 154 Chapter Four: Private Gardens 157 Garden design and composition 160 Garden designers 168 Urban gardens 171 Country gardens 179 Suburban gardens 185 Cottage gardens 195 Allotments 198 Summary 202 Chapter Five: Public Gardens 205 Gardens for refreshment 206 Gardens for pleasure 211 Gardens for activity 223 Gardens for education 230 Summary 243 Chapter Six: Public Spaces 245 Public footpaths – the ancient right of way 246 Whit week 254 Manchester’s public parks 256 Summary 275 Chapter Seven: The Element of Competition 277 Florist’s feasts 279 Horticultural shows 286 Gooseberry Shows 300 Summary 307 Conclusion 309 Horticultural Trade 309 Plants 311 Environmental Changes 313 Private Gardens 313 Public Gardens 314 Public Spaces 315 The Element of Competition 316 Summary 316 Appendix One: More Horticultural Tradesmen 318 Appendix Two: Robert Turner’s stock 342 Appendix Three: R. S. Yates, Nurseryman, Sale 345 Appendix Four: Plants etc. owned by S.L. Behrens, jun. 349 Appendix Five: Plants purchased for Samuel Greg’s private garden at Quarry Bank, Styal, 1789-1795 351 Appendix Six: Tinker’s (Vauxhall) Gardens 356 Appendix Seven: Belle Vue Gardens 362 Appendix Eight: Pomona Gardens 369 Appendix Nine: The Zoological Gardens at Broughton 375 Bibliography 382 Abstract The profound changes which led to the social, physical and economic separation of the classes and changed Manchester from a small market town to a sprawling metropolis with a deeply damaged environment caused the loss of the town garden, the rise of the suburban villa and the demand for agreeable leisure surroundings. This story of gardens is an element of Manchester’s history which has been neglected despite fundamentally reflecting the social and economic changes accompanying the industrial revolution. Manchester was once renowned for its horticulture and floriculture. At one time it was able to host as many as eight flower shows each year and it lay at the very centre of the gooseberry-growers’ world for more than a hundred years. Professional and amateur growers of plants were known – and their introductions disseminated – nationwide. Examining the various ways in which the love of plants and gardens were experienced reveals how, as in many other areas of life, class divisions grew and were aggravated. The middle classes attempted to impose their values upon the workers, whether through fear or altruism. Leisure was indivisible from gardens and the wider appreciation of nature, whether this was the private grounds of the wealthier, the public gardens with their range of activities, or places visited by the poor during Whit Week. Such activities also led to friction – theft of plants from private gardens; rowdy behaviour in public ones. Gardens exist within a social and economic framework and their story cannot be told without reference to this and how they and it altered over time. Personal and civic prosperity and poverty, social, legal and environmental changes and different philosophical ideas lie behind the story of Manchester’s horticultural heritage. i Acknowledgements My first thanks must go to my family, particularly to those who set out on their own academic adventures around the same time as I did and who achieved their goals much sooner. To my brother David, who attained both an MPhil and an MLitt; to my nephew Stephen who completed his Doctorate in Clinical Psychology and my niece Claire who punctuated her time achieving a Doctorate in Veterinary Science by producing two wonderful children, Euan and Emily, thereby giving me the status of honorary grandmother. They all encouraged me to continue when the going got tough and their hard work and success shamed me into completing this work. My thanks also to my son Chris, who has learned how to appear interested and to remember to ask after my progress. My colleagues of the Cheshire Gardens Trust have also been supportive and very patient while I completed this work – at least they have benefited by a number of articles for the Newsletter. My thanks especially to Barbara and Pat, who have borne the brunt of pushing ahead with the Caldwell Nurseries Project over the past years; I will now be able to turn my attention back to that. Special thanks must go to John Edmondson for thinking of me when he received a query about Charles White from Henry Noltie and to Henry for kindly photocopying the letter and lists he had found in the archives at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Edinburgh. I am only sorry it was not possible to make more use of this. Thanks must also go to all those who have been responsible for digitising newspapers, books and magazines and making them available on the web. Their names are unknown but they have been invaluable – without them this study would have stalled at an early date. It is important also to thank Ann Brooks, without whose example and encouragement I would never have started; Ed Bennis who was my supervisor at the beginning of the study and Jim Aulich who filled his shoes; my fellow students, in particular Melanie Horton and Alison Slater, for their support, encouragement and interest. Thanks also to James Akers who has shown that, even at the point of completion, there is yet more information to be uncovered. ii Finally thanks to Keith who has kept my garden under control while I have been otherwise engaged and to Spud, Mishka, Spice and Dizzy, who have both kept me company and been a general hindrance. iii Tables, maps & images Maps are referenced thus: Digital Archives: Casson & Berry (1751); Green (1794); Ordnance Survey 1844-49 (1850); Cheshire Tithe maps (Chester Record Office) Ordnance Survey: (1875) Unless otherwise specified, photos are author’s own Maps of Manchester c. 1750-1850 1 Population statistics 1801 and 1851 5 Nursery at Broughton Spout (1850) 59 Lodge’s nursery at Broughton Lane (1850) 63 Lodge’s nursery at Singleton Brook (1850) 64 Cunningham & Orr’s Nursery (1850) 66 Thomas Bounds’ Nursery (1850) 68 Temple House, home to Philip Lucas (1850) 74 Comparison of trees stocked by Perfect, Turner and Butler 85-6 Trees provided by Dicksons for Henry Potts of Chester 87 Trees provided by John Rogers for Henry Potts of Chester 88 Comparison of fruits stocked by different nurseries 91-2 Label for Peach ‘Barrington’ on wall at Castle Gardens, Frodsham 94 Roses purchased by Samuel Greg from William Caldwell 98 Auriculas staged at Malvern Flower Show, 2009 101 Tulips ‘Julia Farnese’ and ‘James Wild’, courtesy Wakefield and North of England Tulip Society 106 The area around St. Peter’s Church (1794) and (1850) 137 Gardens in Granby Row (1794) and same area (1850) 139 Developments in Hulme and Chorlton-upon-Medlock (1850) 141 Comparative Population growth in the suburban townships 1773-1851 144 iv Centre of Manchester (1751) 172 Plan of Manchester in 1650, As reproduced on Casson & Berry’s map of 1751 174 New Gardens from 1650 Plan of Manchester 175 Detached gardens towards Strangeways and at Walker’s Croft (1794) 175 Gardens behind Deansgate (1794); Same area fifty years later (1850) 176 Plan of 2 Gardens situate at Cheetwood belonging Charles White Esqr 178 Detached Gardens near Mount Pleasant (1850) 179 Gardens around Ardwick Green (1794) 186 Gardens in Higher Ardwick (1794) 187 Stocks (J. Ridings, Esq) and Bank (Holland Ackers, Esq) (1794) 187 Area where Holland Ackers house and gardens were previously (1850) 188 Stocks (1850) 189 Cornbrook showing incursion of smaller houses 190 Adjacent areas in Greenheys (1850) 191 Greenheys Hall gardens (1850) 193 Gardens around Broughton Old Hall (1850) 193 That part of Cheetwood once occupied by Charles White’s gardens (1850) 194 The area around Pendleton Green (1850) 194 Clay Hall and Seedley Gardens, Pendleton (1850) 208 Temperance Tea Gardens, Cheetwood (1850) 211 Vauxhall Gardens (1850) 212 Pomona Gardens (1850) 218 Arcade Gardens, Smedley (1850) 222 Flora Gardens, Hulme (1850) 224 White House Gardens (Apollo Gardens) (1850) 224 Grove Inn Gardens (1850) 225 Bowling Greens (1794) 227 Bowling Green at Griffin Hotel, Cheetham Hill Road (1850) 228 Bowling Green at Eagle and Child Inn, Cheetham Hill Road (1850) 229 Bowling Greens at Horseshoe Inn and Wool Pack Inn, Pendleton (1850) 229 Bowling Greens at Bowling Green Inn and Birch Villa Inn (1850) 230 v Plan of the Manchester Zoological Gardens (from Manchester As It Is) 237 Plan of the improvements on Preston