It wasn’t until the time of Sir Walter Raleigh that any form of conservatory was used, when he brought orange pips from one of his expeditions. The pips were grown in an early conservatory in Beddington, which had removable glass panels, allowing them to be taken off in good weather, and replaced when a frost was expected. The 'conservatory' was also heated with coal stoves.

However, it was only really in the 19th century that conservatories took off, when people would use them for growing plants in during the cooler winter months, but would remove the plants during summer, hosting social gatherings inside, however the main issue with this was that up until that point, conservatories had no floor, as trees were planted directly into the ground.

Around the late 19th century, glass roofs became much more common, and designs began to incorporate wrought iron, as seen in the exhibition hall of the Great Exhibition of 1851 at Crystal Palace. It is estimated that the glass used in the construction of the Crystal Palace accounted for 30% of the UK’s annual glass production in that year!

The Crystal Palace spurred rich Victorians into building their own conservatories of varying scales of grandeur. These were commonly used as the largest and most important reception room.

In the 20th century, conservatories fell out of favour, as architects lost favour with the mix of styles and influences. The fall from grace was aided also by the First World War, which made conservatories much more expensive to maintain. During this period, many were demolished and removed simply as they couldn’t be maintained.

It was in the 1960’s that conservatories began to return to fashion; and no longer were they just for the rich. Lower maintenance materials, combined with much simpler, but effective, designs have made the conservatory increasingly popular, with function overtaking style as the primary interest people have in a conservatory. Wrought Iron has been replaced by wood and uPVC, making conservatories much cheaper, and a lot more functional. Houses have also changed, and typically have he garden space available in which to construct a conservatory, and people’s affluence has increased in general, allowing them to build a conservatory should they wish.