Alan, Rae and Carleton begin the glazing process
When I first started volunteering at Uppark I was surprised and a little disappointed to find that Uppark garden didn’t have a glasshouse.
Having long been a gardener I feel no fine garden is complete without a glasshouse and was puzzled as to why there were no glasshouses at Uppark. Glasshouses became very popular during Victorian times and all notable gardens were well provisioned with glasshouses, hothouses, alpine houses, orangeries, and cold frames for propagating plants, protecting exotic plants, growing tropical fruits and flowers. In my view, the finest example of all these type of glasshouses can be seen at the Royal Botanical Gardens at Kew.
I soon found out that historically Uppark had a glasshouse range within the walled garden. Although part of the original Uppark estate, the walled garden is privately owned and not open to visitors.
Since 2010, the Uppark garden team have very fortunate to be able to use the show glasshouses at Alitex in at Torberry Farm, just outside of South Harting.
Alitex design and manufacture bespoke Victorian greenhouses, conservatories, roof lights and atriums in aluminium and also produce a range of glasshouses specifically for the National Trust.
The Alitex glasshouses have been invaluable for the Uppark garden team, enabling the gardeners to sow and propagate new plants for the garden at Uppark and particularly for the cut flower garden.
Some TLC required!
There has however always been a strong desire to have our own glasshouse at Uppark and about September last year we discovered nearby National Trust place Petworth House and Park had a glasshouse which was no longer of use to them. We jumped at the chance to have this glasshouse and arranged a visit to Petworth with Shaun from Alitex (for technical advice) to take a look at the glasshouse. Senior gardener Martin told us the glasshouse was about 25 years old and had little use for it now so we were welcome to take it down and reuse it at Uppark; so the Glasshouse Project started.
Glasshouse at Petworth
The Petworth glasshouse was in need of some TLC; broken glass, crumbling brickwork, overgrown ivy, buddleia and clematis had left it looking a bit sad and required a good deal of clearing up before it was ready to be dismantled.
Rae starts the clean up
The glasshouse is made of an aluminium frame bolted together with the glass held in by wire clips and is about 3.4m x 7.3m in size. It was going to be tricky job to dismantle it due to the fragile glass, rusty clips and corroded bolts.
For those with a liking for facts and figures you may be interested to know that glasshouse consists of 139 pieces of aluminium, 198 sheets of glass, 284 nuts and bolts and 183m of glazing rubber, 240 z clips and 480 w clips. 
There was lot of work to do but the Uppark garden team particularly relish a recycling challenge, somehow a greater satisfaction comes from recycling or regenerating something from what would otherwise be scrapped.
Left, former gardener Jenny on the mini digger during the clearing phase in autumn 2014 and right Iain from Alitex helps with the glazing phase in August 2015.
The location of the Uppark glasshouse was soon established and work commenced on clearing and levelling a site next to the biomass heating building in the garden compound. This involved the removal of a number of Portugual laurels and tons of flint, chalk and soil. It was hard graft and machines had to be brought in to complete the clearance work.
The clearance work starts with the mini digger
A base was laid by local builders, glasshouse parts such a glazing rubber, bolts and clips were purchased and eventually the site was ready for installation.
At this point Alitex assisted us once again and offered to dismantle the glasshouse at Petworth and also to transport the aluminium and glass to the Uppark site.
Once on site the aluminium framework was jet washed to remove moss, algae and the remnants of ivy and clematis. The glass was carefully washed by hand to remove grime and staining accumulated during its years of exposure to the elements and was then stacked ready for installation.
Rae and Ric start the frame assembly
Assembly of the frame was carried out by Uppark volunteer gardeners and after some straightening and repair work was soon ready for the glass which was installed with the assistance of Iain from Alitex.
A few final touches and fitting of the doors and it was looking like a glasshouse once again.
Work now begins on fitting out the interior with timber staging, lighting and warm air heating which will be sourced from excess heat in the nearby biomass heating installation.
So, should we call it a greenhouse ? a glasshouse ? or a hot house?
It’s been about a year in the making and there’s still a few things to do before we can start to use the glasshouse for sowing and propagating but I think we can say it’s a job well done.
Glasshouse completed
Editor’s note:
Since 2005 Alitex have contributed a fixed percentage of their National Trust greenhouse revenue to the National Trust each year last year this exceeded £75,000.
Uppark Garden 