Description:An image from a photograph album belonging to the Jervis family, with the caption: 'The Fernery at Darlaston'. This fernery is constructed from large rocks with a path and many varieties of fern planted amongst them. The man to the right appears to be W.S. Jervis. The late 1850s were the height of the Fern-craze ('Pteridomania'), and Swynfen Jervis was a well known collector.
The Darlaston estate was owned by Burton Abbey, but during the Reformation the estate was sold to James Collier, a wool merchant.
The estate was sold to William Jervis of Meaford in 1655, and it remained in the Jervis family until it was sold in 1880 to James Meakin, a pottery manufacturer. The hall remained in the Meakin family up to 1951.
The hall was then demolished and a large bungalow, 'Springwood' occupies the site.
Image copyright: Simon Swynfen Jervis.