The origins of Petersham Nurseries

In October 2023 a stranger knocked on the gate of Bute Cottage, introducing herself by explaining that she used to live here in her childhood. Over a cup of tea we were delighted to hear her story. Her maiden name is Maria Van der Vyver. 

In 1962, Maria’s father Henry Van der Vyver (pictured below) applied for a vacancy advertised by Archibald Ashfield of Petersham House, the grand 17th century home overlooking Petersham Meadows and St Peter's church. Captain Ashfield wanted someone to create a nursery garden in the unused land behind the house, adjacent to the flood-meadows. He had a vision of a nursery which would be valuable to the community of Petersham village.

Henry was the perfect candidate for the position. He originally came from a little village in Holland called Rijnsburg. The windmills and flower production of Rijnsburg were painted into history by Claude Monet in 1886 (pictured below). This is where Henry and most of his family worked on the land growing tulips and daffodils. When the family emigrated to England shortly after World War II, Rijnsburg was on its knees. Thankfully it recovered and is now a thriving village producing and delivering flowers all around the world.

Continuing the tradition of its role in previous centuries (see Part 2 below), Bute Cottage was provided to Henry as part of the employment package, and in 1963 he and his family moved in. Henry set to work establishing the nursery from scratch. Perhaps most impressively, he arranged for five greenhouses to be rescued and shipped from his village in Holland. Two of those huge greenhouses (pictured below) are still being used today and form a large part of the authentic charm for which Petersham Nurseries has become internationally renowned. 

As the nursery took shape Henry was joined by Maria’s brother, Kees. Together they worked long and hard. Everything they grew and sold was home grown from bulbs and seeds including lots of tulips and daffodils. Maria fondly remembers that "it was a beautiful little nursery whose community felt like part of the family". When Maria was married in 1970, the wedding reception (pictured below) was held in the garden of Petersham House. She reminisces: “I think my Dad, who put in all the hard work, would be amazed by what his beloved nursery has become.”

In 1976, due to ill health, Henry and his wife decided to retire and go back to Holland. Kees Van der Vyver then went into partnership with Bob Collett. In 1980 they purchased the nursery and managed it together until Kees retired in 1999. 

Bob and his wife Annette continued running the nursery until they retired in 2003. At this point it became reunited with Petersham House, as the nursery was  sold to current owners, Gael and Francesco Boglione who had bought Petersham House six years earlier. Gael recounts her experience of moving in alongside the nursery:

We could see its greenhouses from the upper storeys, but in the garden, enclosed in its high walls, we barely knew it was there. [..] The children were delighted at the idea of ‘moving to the country’. The nursery owners, Bob and Annette Collett, were very indulgent with them, turning a blind eye as the kids used the bags of soil and compost as trampolines and crash mats. Bob was a fantastic vegetable grower and our son Harry stuck to him like glue, learning how to plant seeds and how to water, and helping out with propagation.  House & Garden (14 October 2021)

At his retirement, Bob was interviewed by the local newspaper:

 “Petersham Nurseries is a unique place - some people have been coming for 40 years. You see the same ones time and time again. Our service was different from any other garden centre. The main emphasis was on growing plants - we grew 99 per cent of the plants sold there ourselves. That made us stand out. Another important feature of the nurseries was the personal service - we were always willing to answer questions and give general advice”. Richmond & Twickenham Times (12 September, 2003)

In the 21st century Petersham Nurseries has grown in scope and fame, but friendly service and helpful advice remain as core values. Sadly Henry, Kees and Bob are no longer with us, but it is reassuring that we can still feel their spirit.

Moving back to the early 20th century, it should be noted that Captain Ashfield's wife Marjorie was the grandaughter of Letitia Rachel Warde (1841-1906). Warde appears on the deeds of Bute Cottage as a previous owner of much of the land formerly known as the Bute Estate which comprised what is now Cedar Heights, Ashfield Close and Bute Avenue. 

Warde had inherited Petersham House from her father, Samuel Walker, and promptly bought the Bute Estate in 1898. A progressive housing plan (pictured below) had just been developed for the estate by previous owner Sir John Whittaker Ellis, Mayor of London (1881) and first Mayor of Richmond (1890). If the estate plan had proceeded Bute Cottage would likely have been demolished. Three years earlier Ellis had controversially demolished Bute House (pictured below), which was located in the area which is now the entrance to Cedar Heights. No longer the estate home, Bute House had been run since 1871 as a boarding academy for 'the sons of gentlemen'.

In her 2009 book The Matchless Vale, local historian Vanessa Fison suggests that Ellis had "a change of heart" about his plan, "and was later to play a prominent part in the campaign against such developments that eventually led to the 1902 Act protecting the view from Richmond Hill" ( p.97). Despite Ellis' change of heart, and/or Warde's intervention after she acquired the estate, the 1898 plan did eventually form the basis of the development of Bute Avenue, Cedar Heights and Ashfield Close from the 1930s to the 1960s. 

It is indicative of the great wealth she inherited that Letitia Rachel Warde is locally remembered for having built All Saints Church and the village hall in Bute Avenue (pictured below). She died three years before the church was completed in 1909 and it was never consecrated. Nevertheless, it had an interesting 20th century history.  Amongst other things it served as a World War II radar and anti-aircraft command, and as a venue for several prominent classical music recordings on the Decca/PolyGram label, including one of Luciano Pavarotti's biggest selling albums, O Holy Night, in 1976. The pioneering Olympic Studios recording engineer Keith Grant (1941-2012) later built a recording studio inside the church, specialising in orchestral film scores.

The area has a long horticultural history of orchards and market gardens. Bute Cottage was built around 1770 just within the perimeter wall of the 'New Parke' estate (as it was previously known) and it shares that horticultural legacy. For a time at least, it was the estate gardener's residence. 

From historic maps (pictured below), and from the iron and glass discovered in the foundations we dug in 2003, we can see that Bute Cottage once had extensive greenhouses and hot walls. This is significant because of the groundbreaking work of William Wilson, the gardener to Sir James Cockburn who occupied the estate from 1757 to 1785. Wilson was the first person to publish an explanation of how hot walls were used to cultivate pineapples, peaches and nectarines in England’s climate. William Wilson's 1777 Treatise on the Forcing of Early Fruits and the Management of Hot Walls (pictured below) is a pioneering work of horticulture. 

Following their first colonial 'discovery' in the 16th century, pineapples became a powerful symbol of status and hospitality as described in the beautifully-written article from The Paris Review (see link below). They were so expensive that they were often rented for important social events. 

Petersham's history of pineapples is still very evident locally in the famous 14 large stone pineapples (pictured below) which are perched atop the perimeter columns of the National Trust property, Ham House, just half a mile from Bute Cottage. Ham House was completed in 1610, but the pineapples were added in 1799. 

The very first pineapple to be cultivated in Britain is attributed to local Richmond resident Sir Matthew Decker, an achievement which is celebrated in a well-known painting of 1720 (pictured below). The topography of the background in the painting seems to be the bend in the river Thames at Richmond Hill, which indicates that the setting might be Petersham and perhaps the New Parke estate. Decker's house was a mile away on Richmond Green.

We can't be certain that William Wilson was based at Bute Cottage, nor that the estate was the site of the first cultivated pineapple in Britain, but it certainly witnessed the pioneering horticultural endeavours of the Georgians and their obsession with pineapples.

The Bute name is derived from the Isle of Bute in the Scottish region of Argyll and Bute. The family acquisition of the noble title dates from 1703 in the reign of the last Stuart monarch, Queen Anne, when it was awarded to Sir James Stuart, the 1st Earl of Bute. His Stuart family roots can be traced back to the 14th century king of the Scots, Robert the Bruce.

The Bute family acquired its estate in Petersham in 1785 when James Stuart-Mackenzie (son of the 2nd Earl of Bute) married his cousin Lady Elizabeth Campbell. She was the daughter of the 2nd Duke of Argyll who had developed Sudbrook Park in Petersham. This very fine example of Palladian architecture subsequently became the clubhouse of Richmond Golf Club from 1891 (see next section and picture below).

The power and influence of the Bute and Argyll families are evident from the fact that James Stuart-Mackenzie was the brother of John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute (pictured below). He was tutor to King George III and briefly British Prime Minister in 1762-63. Also a co-founder of Kew Gardens and a Ranger of Richmond Park, he is the most famous Bute family member, after whom Bute Cottage and Bute Avenue are named. 

The year in which Bute House was built is not clear but is assumed to be shortly after 1785. It was demolished in 1895, and early in the 20th century the land lost any formal association with the Bute family name. 

Following the death of Queen Elizabeth I in 1603, the ‘union of the crowns’ meant that the Stuart king James VI of Scotland became James I of England. In a clear example of ‘jobs for the boys’, many prominent Scottish families ended up with titles and property south of the border. These endowments were nowhere more evident than in Petersham, courtesy of James I’s son (Charles I), his grandsons (Charles II and James II), and his great granddaughter Queen Anne, who died in 1714 and was the last monarch in the Stuart line. 

The distinguished family names and homes of Argyll, Bute, Campbell, Cockburn, Douglas, Dysart, Montrose, Murray and Stuart-Mackenzie have provided Petersham with a distinctly Scottish legacy, and one for which it was, at one time, known as 'the most aristocratic village in the country.'

The enclosure of Richmond Park

The larger area in which the Bute Estate was located had been known previously as 'New Parke'. This is the name it had in 1637 when King Charles I enclosed the common land now known as Richmond Park for private hunting. The enclosure was deeply unpopular and was regularly ignored, as depicted by an anonymous 1751 painting of the parish 'bound-beating' breach of the park walls (pictured below). Richmond Park did not become formally accessible to the public until 1872, and ironically we should now be thankful to Charles I for preserving the land from what would inevitably have been suburban development. 

The first notable early resident on the site of what would become Bute House was Sir George Cole who lived in the Manor House of Petersham. Not much is known about Cole other than being a member of the Middle Temple. He was married at St Peter's Church in 1585, died in 1624 and has an ostentatious memorial in the chancel of the church. 

Cole's son Gregory sold the leasehold rights in the Manor House, later known as Old Petersham Lodge, to royal courtier William Murray. It was occupied from 1637-1663 by Murray's fellow courtier, Lodowick Carlile (sometimes spelt Carlell). Carlile was the Deputy Keeper of Richmond Park and his wife Joan Palmer is believed to have been the first English woman to paint professionally. Carlile is more famous for being a court playwright and dedicated his best-known play The Deserving Favourite (1629) to William Murray who is perhaps the most important figure in Petersham's history (see below). 

Aristocratic investment in New Parke

In 1693 Old Petersham Lodge was replaced with a more impressive residence at New Parke. Its spectacular landscaped gardens with terraced parterres were commissioned by the new owner Lawrence Hyde, 1st Earl of Rochester, who was the brother-in-law of King James II. The famous engraving of New Parke and its gardens (c. 1700) is pictured below, along with a landscape painting of a similar view over Petersham from around the same time. St Peter's Church and Petersham House can be seen to the right of the main building. 

The painting pre-dates Bute Cottage by at least 60 years, but the land upon which Bute Cottage is built can be seen in the centre of the painting behind the main building, which was destroyed by a catastrophic fire in 1721. It was replaced a decade later by another grand building (also called Petersham Lodge) constructed for the 1st Earl of Harrington, though the formal landscape gardens soon reverted to wild parkland. This building was demolished around 1835 when the Crown incorporated much of its grounds into Richmond Park. The name Petersham Lodge was later adopted by the impressive property and grounds on River Lane. 

Further in the distance of the painting is the site of Sudbrook Park (pictured below). Built in the 1720s by one of Britain's most influential architects, James Gibbs, Sudbrook House is famous for its Palladian exterior and its magnificent baroque Cube Room. Since 1891 it has been the home of Richmond Golf Club. 

Sudbrook Park was originally developed by John Campbell, 2nd Duke of Argyll (1680-1743). Born in Ham House, he was the grandson of Countess Elizabeth and Sir Lionel Tollemache (see the Dysart connection below). As explained in the previous section, the marriage of the Duke of Argyll's daughter to one of his own nephews provides the link to the origins of the Bute Estate.

William Murray and the Dysart legacy

It is worth saying a bit more about William Murray (1600-1655). Born in the Scottish town of Dysart in Fife, he was taken to the royal court by his father, a minister, and educated alongside Prince Charles, later King Charles I. As a child, Murray had the role of 'whipping boy', taking punishment on behalf of Prince Charles. From 1626 Murray held the royal advisory role of Gentleman of the Bedchamber. For these services Murray was rewarded in 1643 with the title 1st Earl of Dysart along with the lease of Ham House (pictured below) and its extensive 640 acre estate. This hereditary legacy of property endured for almost 300 years and still exists as a noble title.

During the English Civil War of 1642-1651, which resulted in the execution of Charles I in 1649, the estate was under threat of sequestration by the anti-royalist Parliamentary forces. Murray fled to France with the exiled Charles II. Meanwhile his wife Catherine and daughter Elizabeth, 2nd Countess of Dysart, remained at Ham House and were politically astute in navigating the dangerous political waters. Whilst secretly supporting the restoration of the monarchy, Elizabeth developed an "unusual friendship" with the interregnum Lord Protector, Oliver Cromwell. Described as 'a pretty, witty lass', she was able to formally retain Ham House and the estate once Charles II was back on the throne in 1660. 

Elizabeth was a strong and ambitious charcter. She married the prominent East Anglian nobleman Lionel Tollemache with whom she had 11 children. She later acquired the title Duchess of Lauderdale through her second marriage to Scottish politician John Maitland, 1st Duke of Lauderdale. In the etymology of the word CABAL, it is believed that the word was popularised by its connection to the first letters of the names of the noblemen (Clifford, Arlington, Buckingham, Ashley and Lauderdale) whose secret ministry met at Ham House and was seen as a threat both to the monarchy and to the power of Parliament.

In the subsequent centuries the Dysart family came to own the majority of Ham and Petersham. 

The Dysart legacy in the 20th century

Over the first half of the 20th century, large parts of the estate were developed and divested. Some sections of the estate also became protected for public enjoyment through two Acts of Parliament which are still in force today:

• the Metropolitan Commons (Petersham) Supplemental Act (1900), covering Petersham Common Woods, managed by elected Conservators (see links below),

• the Richmond, Petersham and Ham Open Spaces Act (1902), protecting Petersham Meadows and the famous view from Richmond Hill.

In 1917 part of the estate in Ham was requisitioned under the Defence of the Realm Act to build one of four giant National Aircraft Factories. In the final year of the First World War Thomas Sopwith and others were innovating and redesigning aircarft monthly, in intense competition with the Germans. At its peak the factory produced 90 warplanes per week. The 38 acre site then became the biggest employer in the area for most of the 20th century, producing cars and trucks for Leyland Motors, and then fighter aircraft and missiles for Hawker. This included all 800 of the pioneering vertical take-off jet, the Hawker Harrier. Eventually the site became uneconomic and was demolished in 1993 to make way for housing. 

The 9th Earl of Dysart (William Tollemache) died in 1935 without children, and Ham House passed to the National Trust in 1948. The Dysart title still exists as a Scottish peerage, currently held by John Grant, 13th Earl of Dysart.

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