British Pteridological Society: Fern World W W

On Tuesday 8th September 2009 a crowd of around 100 people gathered in the Courtyard Gallery at Benmore Botanic Gardens near Dunoon, Argyll, to celebrate the opening of the newly-restored Victorian fernery and to view the accompanying exhibition ‘Pteridomania - the Renaissance’. BPS members present included two past Presidents, Alastair Wardlaw (with Jackie Wardlaw) and Adrian Dyer, our current President Robert Sykes (with Sue Sykes) and our President-elect Mary Gibby. Truly, a proliferation of Presidents! Also present was Regional Organiser for Scotland Frank McGavigan and Scottish Group members Frank Katzer and Heather McHaffie. BPS member Sarah Whittingham, herself an expert and author on Pteridomania and BPS Centenary grant recipient, was also present with husband Quentin. In addition BPS members Suzanna and Graham Alcorn, who since the deaths of Wallace and Kath Fyffe now run nearby Ascog Hall Fernery, attended with their son.

Whilst waiting for people to arrive we had plenty of opportunity to view the film of the construction of the fernery and to look at the exhibition. The courtyard gallery walls were covered in banners with information about ferns and the Victorians and this included a display about own Society. There were displays of items decorated with fern motifs and fern-inspired artwork. This was all supported by an excellent book on ferns and the fernery written by Prof. Mary Gibby OBE who is Director of Science at The Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh and who becomes our President in April 2010. The book is available through BPS booksales and RBGE. The BPS made a donation towards the restoration of the fernery and this has been acknowledge in Mary’s book and in the accompanying exhibition which is open 1 March - 19 April 2010 and then goes on tour.

We were welcomed by the Regius Keeper, Prof. Stephen Blackmore, after which Peter Baxter, Curator of Benmore, gave us some background about the gardens and the challenging task of restoring the fernery. The fernery was originally built by James Duncan who owned the Benmore estate in the late 19th Century; it was very popular during the 1870’s to 1880’s but then went into decline. The Fernery was restored, with support from many large organisations and small charitable trusts, including the BPS. The formal opening was conducted by Sir Peter Hutchinson Bt Chairman of the Younger (Benmore) Trustees who described the fernery as a very special place and talked about the calming effect of ferns: This noble building doth aspire to rid the fighter of his ire.
Think about it!

By this time, those of us that hadn’t yet set eyes on the fernery were desperate to get there and see for ourselves. We were shuttled up to a remote corner of the gardens where the fernery is built on a steep hillside. We were led up the winding steps, by a smart young piper, admiring the fern planting along the way. Just outside the fernery entrance there was the opportunity to get a close up look at Woodsia ilvensis. We made our entrance into the fernery. It truly is a magical place with a magnificent glass barrel-vaulted roof and exceptional planting overseen by that legendary fern grower Andy Ensoll from RBGE. The fernery is built into the hillside with the huge front gable wall facing south. The east cliff face forms the side wall of the building. The interior has been meticulously restored and is flanked on either side by a pair of staircases with the whole space constructed on three levels with entrance lobby, the main level with pond and grotto, then up to a higher level where you can look down on the planting and get closer to the tree ferns. Species too numerous to list here but among my personal favourites were fine specimens of Todea Barbara spore-raised from the large plant at nearby Ascog Hall Fernery. Other ferns of note were Thyrsopteris elegans grown from spore from Juan Fernandez Islands; Sadleria cyatheoides from Hawaii; Blechnum wattsii from Australia and Arachniodes simplicior from China and Japan. The towering Cyathea cooperii made an impact and the shady grotto was brimming with British native Trichomanes speciosum and other filmy ferns.

A trip to see the fernery is a must. This can be combined with a walk through nearby Puck’s Glen which is truly ‘The Fern Paradise’. Not far away, on the Isle of Bute, is Ascog Hall Fernery, built eight years later than Benmore, but architecturally quite different and really worth a visit.

For further reading see:
The Benmore Fernery: Celebrating the World of Ferns. 2009. Mary Gibby. Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh.
The Victorian Fern Craze. 2009. Sarah Whittingham. Shire Publications.
Fern fever: the unveiling of the restored Victorian fernery at Benmore Botanic Garden after 100 years. March 2010. Sarah Whittingham. The English Garden.

Click on images for larger versions.

Report by Yvonne Golding; photographs by Yvonne Golding and Quentin Alder.

The Restored Victorian Fernery at Benmore

Formal Opening - 8 September 2009