The following photos taken by Diana Walsh of the Puddingstone Club, show the rich variety of Puddingstone found in Hertfordshire, and some of the uses to which it has been put.
Puddingstone Identification Chart
Building the Fernery
In 1851 William Blake employed a highly-regarded Head Gardener Anthony Parsons. His obituary published in The Gardeners Chronicle of 1881 ³ confirmed his gardening expertise and sound judgement: he was “successful in originating some fine new varieties of British and other Ferns, one being named in his honour Gymnogramma chrysophylla Parsoni.
When Wiliam Blake (senior) died in 1852 his son William John Blake inherited the house. He asked Head Gardener Anthony Parsons
to build a Fernery in an old chalk pit about 500 metres to the East of the House, incorporating Pulhamite artificial rock work.
No papers exist to describe how the Fernery was constructed and then planted, but Pulham’s promotional catalogue of the time confirmed the construction of a ‘cave, dropping well, pass for ferns and other rockplants in an old chalk pit but in artificial stone’.
After the death of Anthony Parsons on Christmas Day 1880, and although still receiving praise in The Gardeners Chronicle of 1881, it is doubted that the Fernery will have continued to be managed on anything like the same scale for the following reasons:
- The Fernery was not very close to the House,
- There was a succession of new owners after 1902,
- Constructed in a pit, it was hidden from casual sight,
- Maintenance of the Fernery will have been labour intensive,
- The Victorian ‘fad’ of ”Ferning’ declined with the loss of men in the Great War
- Suitable labour will have become scarce,
The Puddingstone Club
The following Report was kindly produced by Diana Walsh.
Who We Are
The Puddingstone Club was formed in February 2016, following a visit to Hertford Museum and seeing such fine examples of the stone both there and in Hertford Castle grounds.
We are a small group of five and we research where known puddingstones are located and then plan a visit to see them and photograph them (usually followed by a nice lunch in a local pub). Over the two years we have discovered stones not just on public display but have been invited into private gardens to see them too.
Puddingstone Club Members:
Diana Walsh, Linda Dolata, Maureen Delandro and Kim Korakidis (fifth member Gill Hutchins was unable to join us).
Background to the Danesbury Fernery Visit
On visiting Danesbury Fernery with the Hertfordshire Garden Trust on April 11th 2018 , I was astonished to see how much puddingstone there was in the Fernery, dotted about amongst the impressive Pulhamite rock work. The Leader of the Friends of Danesbury Local Nature Reserve, John Roper, explained that they had quite a pile of stone that they needed to move in the Fernery and wondered if I would like to bring my fellow enthusiasts to help identify what was puddingstone.
Our visit was bathed in sunshine which made the fernery look all the more splendid, and we were made very welcome by John and his fellow volunteers Harry and Sue.
Discoveries
Many of the pieces we saw we could agree were definitely Hertfordshire Puddingstones ; water smoothed pebbles embedded in a silicious matrix that is extremely hard. Some larger pieces were less easy to identify having larger pebbles and with more protruding making it harder to identify.
Conclusion
Our thanks go to John and his team for sharing this very special place with us and the time they gave us.
With all best wishes and thanks,
Work Party Report – 19th April 2018
Weeding and Nettle Control
On a warm and sunny day the team continued weeding the planting beds. 
We still hope to get the Borough Council to undertake some nettle spraying in non planting-bed areas, but in In antithe planting beds nettles have to be hand weeded.
Daffodil Rescue
In anticipation of the Digger lifting the top off the large Tufa bed in the centre of the dell, we dug out as many of the daffodils as possible and re-planted them on the South border of the Entrance where they should now remain undisturbed.
Whips and Shrub – Perimeter management
We continued clearing around all the whips and shrubs planted in February, to allow them to grow unimpeded by weeds.
Tufa Removal
Removal of dumped tufa rock had been scheduled as a task for the Maydencroft Digger, but following careful sorting we decided that all the stones would remain on site, the majority of which will be used to drop in at the edges of planting beds around the site.
Visitors- Puddingstone Group – 20th July 2018
Arising directly from last week’s visit from the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust we had four visitors from a Puddingstone group. (Their report is published separately as The Puddingstone Club.).
With the Group’s help we discovered that we have a larger ratio of puddingstones to Tufa and conglomerates than we had previously thought.
Fencing
We successfully extracted three very complete original fence panels from close to the badger set, for installing in more prominent positions later.
Mains Water Supply
An effort to turn on the water supply failed once again, and renewed efforts will now be made to get Maydencroft to reveal their stop cock location and help us resolve the problem.
(Ed: This was resolved on Wednesday 25th April 2018. The hose reel is installed and a Watering Roster needs to be drawn up)
Fernery Gardening Group
Over Elevenses of coffee and flapjacks, several volunteers expressed a willingness to attend on a more frequent basis. Plans will therefore be drawn up for a Gardening Group to be established that will allow volunteers to make discreet arrangements to meet up for gardening work. For Insurance purposes it will be necessary to let the Borough Council know in advance when each such activity is planned.
If you would like to be included in the Fernery Gardening Group and will agree to share your contact details with like minded members, then please confirm to
Dates of Next Working Party Meetings
Please go to the Calendar for details
Notice of Work Party – Thursday 19th April 2018
The Best Laid Plans..
Plans for our next Working Party have been seriously impacted by the recent spell of very wet weather. The site is still very wet.
The scheduled Monday 7th April arrival of the Maydencroft digger had to be postponed, and it is not likely to be brought on site for at least two more weeks to allow the site to thoroughly dry out. We will not therefore be able to complete some tasks scheduled to be completed this month, and we might have to put in extra hours if we are to prepare in good time for our big plant-up in May.
We will give you a further update next Thursday.
Site Clean up since our last meeting
You will undoubtedly notice that the site is considerably cleaner since the last Working Party due to:
- 26th March – a small group cleared leaves from the paths and burned off loads of twigs,
- 1st April Sue and Andrew cleared leaves and rubbish from the dropping well,
- Tuesday 8th April Harry cleared all the rocks and the stagnant standing water out of the basin, and with Andrew’s help cleaned the site in advance of last Wednesday’s visit by Kate Harwood and students of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust.
The HGT visit was very successful. Kate Harwood showed her thanks by presenting the FOD with a fern Polypodium vulgare which she planted to a full fanfare of shouts and encouragement from all those present.
Tasks for Thursday 19th April 2018
Weeding and Nettle Control
If we have time to organise this with the Borough Council, we might undertake some nettle spraying in non planting-bed areas.
We should continue to hand weed nettles from the planting beds
Daffodil Rescue
We will dig out as many of the daffodils as possible on the Tufa Bed which are now past their best, and store them for later re-planting.
Whips and Shrub management
Clear around all the whips and shrubs planted in February, to allow them to grow unimpeded by weeds.
Puddingstone Removal
Removal of dumped tufa rock is scheduled as a task for the Maydencroft Digger, but because many of the dumped stones are unusable it will help if we can separate the more valuable pieces that we want to keep, including the puddingstones and some pulhamite fragments. The purpose is to maximise the use of the digger by presenting an uncomplicated pile of redundant stone ready to be removed from the site completely in one go.
The puddingstones are to be removed to a safe place to await further investigation.
Rabbit Scrapes
Fill some of the rabbit scrapes where they have dug holes in the banks so that more grass seed can be sown.
Other Tasks
These can be determined on the day, and will be dependent on available resources and ground conditions.
Visitors
On Friday 20th April, we are expecting two or three members of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust who visited us last week, and have asked to return to study our Puddingstone samples more closely.
Dates of Future Meetings
Saturday 5th May 2018 – Fernery Garden Group
Thursday 17th May – Fernery Working Party
Saturday 2nd June – Fernery Garden Group
SUNDAY 17TH JUNE – WELWYN FESTIVAL OPEN DAY – 2pm to 5pm
Thursday 21st June – Fernery Working Party
Danesbury’s Park Field – Scrub Bashing and Path Clearance
July/August/September – we will continue gardening activities, but we will plan some overdue scrub-bashing work on the Park Field.
Meeting Place – Thursday 19th April 2018
We will meet at The Fernery at 10 am. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 onwards to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.
All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.
For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.
Work Party Report – 15th March 2018
The weather turned out much better than forecast. Still a cold wind blowing from the East, but the rain held off for the 14 volunteers to enjoy a good morning’s work, and to welcome our visitors..
Scheduled Tasks
Task 1 We started attending each and every staked whip and shrub that we had planted in February to ensure that a secure wire surround was fitted, and that protective tubes were well anchored.
Task 2 We began to seriously weed the planting bed to the left of the entrance path which we are confident is another of Anthony Parsons’ special ‘tanked’ beds. (See How to Grow the Best Ferns)
Task 3
We tidied up the immediate surrounds of all new whips and young trees. This will be the start of a continual process to prevent Ragwort smothering the new trees before they are properly established.
Tasks 4 and 5
The wet ground underfoot prevented us from tackling scheduled Tasks 4 and 5:
- Bonfire
- Leaf blowing
Task 6 Fencing
Stephen, with help from Andy, continued to expose wrought 
iron panels deeply buried on the East side of the site, which we plan to lift and use as infills to complete the run of fencing on the West side, adjacent to the site entrance.
Visitors – British Pteridological Society (BPS)
We welcomed Dr Peter Blake. Peter is the Area Representative of the British Fern Society, and he had travelled across from Norwich in poor weather to join us. Peter and Nick were given a guided tour around the site, which they were surprised to find is more extensive than they had imagined. They also saw that we do not have many ferns showing at this time, but nevertheless Peter gave us good advice on the types of ferns we should be aiming to plant, and he also recommended the areas on the site where they would do best.
Peter Blake declared that he looks forward to visiting us again, although unfortunately he will not be available to join us on our Open Day on Sunday 17th June 2018.
It is evident that Peter will spread the word about our Project within the BPS, and hopefully thereby attract their interest in our activities. Through our membership of BPS we will hope to gain the benefit of members’ advice and perhaps their surplus stock too!
Following the visit, we were asked to provide The Pteridologist with a Report of our activities for publication in the next edition of their regular Journal, all of which attracts wider publicity to our benefit.
Dates of Next Meetings
Monday 26th March – Ad Hoc tidy up work party
Saturday 7th April – Gardening Group
Wednesday 11th April Visit by the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust
Thursday 19th April – Working Party
All the above dates and details can be found on our website under the Calendar Tab.
N.B. Maydencroft operatives and their heavy equipment will be on site from Monday 9th April to 20th April and extra precautions will need to be taken.
Notice of Work Party – Thursday 15th March 2018
March 15th 2018 Work Party
Visitors – Area Representative of the British Pterodological Association.
Weather permitting Mr Peter Blake will be visiting from Norwich. 
We hope that he will be able to give us the benefit of his knowledge of the types of ferns we might aim to plant, and their best positions. He will also then be in a position to talk about our plans and ambitions to other members of the BPS .
Garden Development – some necessary re-scheduling
Publication of this Notice has been delayed due to unavoidable last minute adjustments to our Work Schedules, which will affect this coming Thursday 15th March 2018, and the following two months too.
There are a few reasons for this:
- Rabbits have been nibbling/destroying some of the plants/trees we have recently planted.
- We have to prevent that happening before we start planting tender plants.
- Sarah, our Garden Designer, will be absent until 21st April and we will not therefore be able to place the ‘Big April Order’ for the remainder of the plants on the Planting List, until she returns.
- Sarah needs to be present to direct planting operations.
A delay in the next round of planting from April to May 2018 offers perceived benefits.
- Sweet new grass will have started growing and (we are told on good authority) rabbits prefer grass to nursery grown plants.
- A delay of planting by one month (to May 2018) will enable the Maydencroft mechanical digger to undertake scheduled 2 x week tasks (from 9th – 20th April) without the earlier concerns we had of interference with the parallel work of the volunteers on the planting programme.
- The mechanical digger is scheduled to reduce (i.e. lower) some planting beds; undertake further spoil removal from the rockwork; extend earlier excavation of paths and earthworks.
- The mechanical digger will also lift the tufa rocks from the central planting bed in the dell, to be stored for future use, and also remove rocks dropped by vandals in the dropping well basin.
- By synchronising Work Party activities with the work of the mechanical digger, volunteers will have more time to prepare new beds for planting before Sarah’s return, and before the purchase of the next tranche of plants.
Task 1 – Rabbit Protection
(Contractors are reducing the rabbit population for us).
We have to double-check that all the recently planted trees/shrubs are protected either by plastic tubes or by chicken wire.
Plastic tubes should be buried in the ground by approx. 1″- 2″ so that rabbits cannot push them aside.
Chicken wire should ideally be pegged in triangles with approx 4″ gap between the wire and the plant, to stop rabbits nibbling through the wire.
Task 2 – Weeding existing planting beds
This is a continuation of the work that Sarah and 
her gardening team have been undertaking in recent months. If we have a bonfire nettles can be burnt.
Task 3 – Weeding newly planted trees and whips
As rabbit protection is checked/improved for each plant, (see Task 1 above) a start needs to be made to clearing grass and weeds (including ragwort) from an an area of approx. 12″ diameter around each plant, which cleared space should then be maintained on an ongoing basis.
Task 4 – Site Clearance – Bonfire
If the Weather is suitable we will have a bonfire. 
This will be the first step towards site clearance in preparation for the Open day on June 17th 2018. There are fallen branches laying around the site, and nettles to be burned as they are dug up. Mulching Cage No. 1 also needs to be opened and sorted to remove material that should be burned.
Task 5 – Site Clearance – leaf collection and mulching cages
If the weather is suitable we will have another go at lifting more autumn leaves from the paths with the Leaf Blower and with rakes, and start to fill the new Mulching Cage No. 2
Task 6 – Excavation
Depending on resources available, we will continue to expose the brick walls at the North end of the site, in preparation for the April arrival of the Maydencroft digger.
We will also continue to trace the direction of the path at the top of the steps on the South side.
Other Future Planned Activities.
Metal Detector – Tony Rook
Our training day with Tony was postponed because of inclement weather.
Meeting Place
We will meet at 10 am at The Fernery on Thursday 15th March 2018. The leaders will expect to be on site from 9.30 am to get the tools ready, so if you are an ‘early bird’ and can help, please do so.
As mentioned above, we are expecting visitors from the British Pteridological Society.
All team members should have good quality garden gloves and wear strong boots, and bring a hot drink for elevenses. We will provide small hand tools for general use.
For newcomers, the Fernery can be found at the top end of North Ride on the Danesbury Estate, AL6 9RD. For more details please go to ‘Where We Are‘ tab at the top of the page.
STOP PRESS – Bad Weather Forecast
The long range weather forecast for Thursday is bad – very heavy rain is expected.
Common sense will come into play, as the site might get too dangerous and work will be abandoned.
23rd February – 100+ bare rooted trees planted
Screening
The prime purpose of many of the bare-rooted trees planted on 23rd February is to restore the shelter which the more delicate ferns and other specimen plants would have enjoyed in the past. An equally important purpose is to screen the site from unwelcome Motorway views, (not a Victorian problem), whilst also presenting seasonal blocks of colour and interest which will frame the many other vistas to be enjoyed from within the Fernery.
1877 James Pulham 2 writes – “Worth a Visit to Danesbury Fernery”
The following extract is from Picturesque Ferneries and Rock Gardens by James Pulham 2nd c.1877 p.15
Kate Banister of the Hertfordshire Gardens Trust kindly sent me a copy of this extract on 10th February 2017, and it has sat in my files, waiting for an opportunity to develop the website so that we might present it in the wider context of the history of the development of Anthony Parson’s Fernery.
James Pulham writes:
“Mr Williams, the well-known fern and orchid cultivator says: ‘That he should advise fern lovers to visit Mr Parsons art (sic) Danesbury, and see this charming spot, and his favourite; and everyone having a taste for chaste and elegant foliage. The rock-work here was executed by Pulham.’
I may add, when I took the place (Ed. i.e. when James Pulham 2 agreed to do the job) I found it a rubbish hole (as I have other places before): this enabled an interesting cave and dropping well to be formed in Pulhamite rock; the former in the bank, for a shady seat, and though built up to close it, it is quite dry, great care being taken in construction to exclude all damp from passing into the wall, which generally makes such places damp and uninviting to sit in”
Kate Banister opined when she sent this extract to me, that this report from ‘the man himself’ presents clear enough evidence that originally the grotto would have housed a seat. Kate also concludes that the quoted reference to ‘chaste foliage‘ would indicate that the purpose of the grotto and seat, and its secluded position within a ‘dingle and dell’ setting, overlooking rocky beds and ferns, would likely as not have been for courtship!
25th February 2018 – More Snowdrops and Acconites planted
At short notice the Borough Council delivered 500 x Snowdrops and 500 x Aconites – all ‘on the green’ (i.e. well rooted with full stems and leaves). We had to get them planted in a hurry, and volunteers stepped forwards to help on 25th February 2018.
But because of fears of frozen ground a last-minute postponement was circulated. As happens, a few volunteers 
who hadn’t received the ‘postponement notice’ did nevertheless turn up and perversely we found that the ground underneath the large oaks was in fact in perfect condition. So, although bitterly cold, the five of us got busy! Apologies go out to all those volunteers who, but for the ‘postponement’, would have joined us.
Sarah directed the planting and we have created a ‘Spring Bed’ which will in time show well.
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