Kitchen Garden Forum

Hello All -
does anybody have a greenhouse built by 'Messenger Horticultural Buildings'?
We've been offered one, second-hand, and it looks fantastic. I gather Thomas Messenger was a famous greenhouse designer in the Victorian era and this company may be the residue of his legacy. I can't find them on the internet and don't know if they still exist. Any ideas anybody?
By the way thanks for suggestions regarding developing our spare land,(Allotment Projects thread) we're making good progress clearing and digging but now we've been offered this superb greenhouse (about 20 square metres of growing space)which has given us a new focus and some fresh ideas.

Not sure if this will be of any help, but I found it interesting - A company called Alitex build bespoke greenhouses, one series is apparently inspired by the designs of Thomas Messenger.

http://www.victorian-greenhouses.com/tr ... ouses.html

I spotted that in my internet trawl, but they've just nicked the name, the greenhouses they make aren't a patch on this beauty. It is quite unlike any greenhouse I've ever seen before - more like a mini old-fashioned palm house in construction, with a reinforced steel frame, huge panes of heavy-duty toughened glass which are going to weigh a ton, set in thick cedar framing. It's about 14' by 16' which is an odd size too, but very handsome. The roof vents, four of them, are manually operated with cast iron fittings - it looks like it was built to last a century at least. Won't be easy to take apart and move though

Hi GIULIA

Did you manage to solve your Messenger greenhouse problem?

We have some history on the Messenger and details.. suspect you're sorted but IM if not..

Regards

Phill