Pteridomania – the Victorian Fern Madness

Social history is full of sudden fads. They seem to come from nowhere, and then they vanish again - possibly forever. One such was the Victorian obsession with ferns, which lasted about half a century.

The Victorians were great collectors, and extremely interested in natural history. Pteridomania (pterido being Latin for ferns) was the huge love affair for ferns and all things fern-like in Britain between 1840s and 1890s. The term ‘pteridomania’ was coined in 1855 by Charles Kingsley, author of The Water Babies.

While it lasted, fern madness invaded all aspects of Victorian life. Ferns and fern motifs appeared everywhere; in homes, gardens, art and literature. Their images adorned rugs, tea sets, chamber pots, garden benches – even custard cream biscuits.

Originally marketed in the 1830s as plants that appealed only to intelligent people, ferns soon became a nationwide phenomenon.

To collect ferns – the more exotic the better – you needed a fernery. This was often a glasshouse where the ferns could be cultivated and displayed, but there were also outdoor ferneries, created in the form of gothic grottos such as the one at Bicton Park in Devon. This is one of the earliest ferneries in England, being laid out in the early 1840s and still survives. The fernery’s strategically placed boulders and large rocks create a cool, moist root-run whilst the surrounding trees and shrubs give shade and protection to the ferns.

Devon was England’s most important source of newly discovered varieties of native ferns. The expansion of both travel and leisure opportunities afforded by the arrival of the railways and the "weekend" (a word which first appeared in print in 1879) allowed a much larger percentage of the population to explore unfamiliar woods looking for ferns.

Those who couldn’t afford a fernery and wanted to collect ferns would keep a fern album full of dried specimens. Many fashionable homes boasted a Wardian case (a glass case similar to a terrarium) to display a collection of ferns.

A host of books appeared to help identify the most desirable native ferns and fern hunting parties became popular social occasions.

The craze lasted for about 50 years before waning, when many ferneries were allowed to fall into disuse and disrepair.