The Fernery was built in 1859 in an existing small chalk pit by James Pulham for Wiliam John Blake, the owner of Danesbury House (formerly known as St Johns Lodge).Between 1919 and 1937 the Dewar family (of distillery fame) occupied the house, after which it became a TB hospital. In 1955 it became the home for long stay patients. In 1993 it was converted to apartments. The Fernery fell into a state of disrepair but it looks as though action has been taken to clear it, hence the repositionimg, again. From Ellie's Wanderings 7, take the path to the left there is a gate a little way along on the right which gives you access to the field and fernery. There is a new gate to the fernery entrance which makes it so much easier to enter the site with dogs. Lots of clearance work now and well worth visiting, even the fernery rocks can be seen but tree cover can affect the GPS signal so search around.
Please take care when searching and do not walk on any of the beautiful spring flowers that the team have spent many hours planting for all to enjoy.