1844-1896

A global recession affected the steel and cutlery industries in the town in the early 1840s and this affected the resources of several shareholders. On 5 July 1843 5,700 square yards of glass in the conservatories were smashed during a giant hailstorm causing additional expense.

At a special general meeting in February 1844 the Committee reported that in the eight years from opening costs had exceeded income by £2,100 and, including mortgages, the Society was in debt by £7,200. The decision was taken to dissolve the company. The Gardens were put up for sale by auction in March 1844, but the bidding failed to reach the reserve price.

The Gardens were rescued by the formation of a second society (also known as the Sheffield Botanical & Horticultural Society) which purchased the land from the former society for £9,000. This company had been formed by the sale of shares at £5 each thus expanding the number of proprietors who had access to the Gardens. The rule forbidding the opening of the Gardens on Sundays was repealed and the definition of a proprietor’s ‘family’ was broadened to include everyone living in the same house, including servants. Special arrangements for the education of school children were put in place. Many more people now had access to the Gardens on a daily basis.

Gala days for the general public were restricted to four per year, mainly on the advice of the curator to preserve the lawns, but the cost was reduced to sixpence for adults, half-price for children. The Temperance Society and the Band of Hope Union negotiated agreements with the Gardens’ Committee in order to host some of these events. In those cases the proceeds were split between the societies and the Gardens. The entertainments were quite ambitious, attracting huge crowds for performers such as Blondin (the tight-rope walker), vaudeville acts, scientific demonstrations of apparatus (such as the new-fangled inventions of the telegraph, the camera obscura and the bicycle), puppet shows and dancing to the bands.

The clearing of a mortgage within the first ten years meant that the Committee could contemplate development and the conservatories were expanded. The finances were in a much better shape so that even a second hailstorm on 19 June 1858, which resulted the breakage of 10,334 glass squares in the conservatories, spoiled many plants and flooded the Gardens damaging the walks, did not cause disaster.

Because a tenant occupied the original Curator’s house, Marnock’s successors had to live in the old farm cottage. It was not fit for purpose, although it was used as a bothy for the under-gardeners until 1900.

The present Curator’s House was built at a cost of £300 (30 gentlemen subscribing £10 each) in 1848 for the third curator and continued as the home of the Gardens’ curators until 1983. The architects were John Weightman and Matthew Hadfield. Hadfield was also responsible for designing the Cholera Monument in Clay Wood and the Cathedral Church of St Marie in Norfolk Row.

In 1849 Joseph Paxton succeeded in bringing the huge water lily, then known as Victoria regia [V. amazonica], into flower at Chatsworth. He provided seeds to other establishments and in 1850 the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Syon House also achieved this. The Sheffield Botanical Gardens were the fourth establishment in the country to successfully grow and coax the lily into flower in 1851. A new ridge-and-furrow extension to the western end of the conservatories was constructed in 1852, at a cost of £304, to house the 30-foot diameter water tank needed for the water lilies.

In 1856 a matching ridge-and-furrow glasshouse was erected at the eastern end of the range, this was dubbed the Camellia House and was used for plants considered border-line hardy including a wide range of camellia varieties and rhododendrons.

At gala days refreshments had been provided in tents, but in 1854 a tea pavilion was erected with funds supplied by the Temperance Society. This was a glass-roofed shelter of ridge-and-furrow design, 120 feet long and 36 feet wide, open at the front and sides with a kitchen set into the wall at the back. It proved immensely popular for visitors throughout the season and was even used to provide some protection for specimens in pots during the winter months.

It was situated on the site now occupied by the Mediterranean Climate Garden, but was demolished in 1899, the only remains today are the steps leading up from the Asia Garden.

The years between 1858 and 1888 were mainly about steady development. Some of the ‘family beds’ were removed to create a pretty Italianate Flower Garden, which was situated on the site of the present Rock and Water Garden. Another innovation was the planting of ‘carpet bedding’ in the eight beds in front of the conservatories, it was reported in 1886 that “not less than 100,000 plants” had been used to create the intricate designs. John Ewing, the fourth curator, was well respected and achieved international renown for the Gardens; even the Emperor of Brazil paid a visit.

Not everyone was prepared to obey the rules, however, and the committee had to erect turnstile gates at the gatehouse and lower lodge by June 1870, to “enable the attendant to control the admissions and to prevent the abuse which had taken there of the right to admission.” Special tokens were made to permit entrance via the turnstiles.

Two grass courts were laid out in 1878, only a year after the first championship match had been held at Wimbledon. They were located at the lower end of the East Main Lawn and were asphalted in 1880. They were dug up in 1911.

A bandstand was purchased from the Coalbrookdale Iron Company and erected in 1888. It was used by the military bands on many occasions until after the Town Trust took over. With no promenades or galas it fell out of use and was removed in 1929. Its position on the Broadwalk is marked by a small octagonal flower bed.

In 1889 two aviary cages were erected in what is now the east ridge-and-furrow glasshouse. The first contained more exotic birds such as wax-bills, weavers, cockatoos and canaries. The second cage was intended for British birds and contained various finches, doves and other song birds.