For more than fifty years Fairseat was home to an alpine plant nursery that was awarded medals at the Chelsea Flower Show on a regular basis. The site of the old nursery is about 300 metres from the A227 along Crabtree Close (bridlepath MR 216) that runs from the A227 to Fairseat village.The nursery was set up in 1923 by two partners, Guy St. Clair Feilden and George Crouch, and closed in the late 1970s/ early 1980s.

Guy Fielden, was born in Cheltenham in 1885 and came from a very privileged background. His grandmother was a descendent of the Lords of Sinclair in Scotland and his grandfather was a wealthy gentleman vicar in Rolleston on Dove in the Peak District. As a young man he had travelled the world plant hunting and was particularly knowledgeable about alpine rock plants. He had a nursery called The Old Mill Garden in Tregoose, near Newquay, Cornwall. Working for him was Stan Chapman who was brought up in nearby St. Columb Major. The nursery was moved to Exeter before finally reaching Fairseat.

Guy Feilden formed a partnership with George Crouch and moved the nursery to Fairseat in 1923 as the area was more suitable (colder) for growing alpines. The freehold of the Fairseat site of about 7 acres was purchased two years later from Christian Anthon Christianson. It is thought that it was already a commercial nursery.

George Crouch was born in Sussex in 1889 and lived in Fairseat from 1924. He had a bungalow built in the nursery grounds in the late 1920s or early 1930s and lived there until his death in 1957 aged 68.This is the bungalow where the author of this article, John Deacon, has lived since 1971. George was a Stansted Parish Councillor for many years, was a lay preacher and was one of the managers of the primary school.  Also joining them were Fred Hills, a young man who lived locally in Fairseat, and Stan Chapman who moved with the nursery from Cornwall.

There were three long greenhouses heated by a coke fire which needed attention seven days a week. They grew a large selection of rock and border plants which were sold on site and, for a large part, via mail order dispatched from Fairseat Post Office. Tomatoes were also grown and sold in the post office. During the war vegetables were grown.

The nursery showed at Chelsea (winning many Banksian medals (the highest being Silver Gilt) and also at the Maidstone show. In 1930 they planted the ‘Scented Garden’ and rockery parts of Selfridges roof gardens in Oxford Street, London. They also planned for new or refurbished gardens and worked in local gardens (Court Lodge and Ightham Palace) which could mean travelling by bus with the tools.

Three of the Fairseat Nursery catalogues (1930, 1960 and 1975) are held in the Fairseat Archive and of particular interest is the flowing prose of Guy Feilden and the quirky inset drawings. An extract of the 1930 plant catalogue can be viewed here.

Guy Feilden lived in various parts of the country including in a London hotel with his wife – but not locally to Fairseat. He died in South Kensington in 1976 aged 91.  Some of Guy Feilden’s whimsical observations over the years are captured for posterity and available to view here.

Stan Chapman and Fred Hills spent all their working lives at the nursery. Stan Chapman was very involved in the two villages Fairseat and Stansted, he played cricket for Stansted, he sang in the choir and rang the bells at Stansted church. He looked after the coke fire in the church and was a special constable during the war. He was a member of the Morris dancers and a keen member of the horticultural society. He was active in the building of Stansted cricket pavilion/village hall and Fairseat village hall. Fred Hills was a keen member of the horticultural society, was a member of the Culverstone Silver Band, played football for Meopham, and cricket for Stansted and Holywell Park.

Fred and Stan both lived in adjacent bungalows in Vigo Road, Fred’s son Bob still lives in one of them (Brighthill) and until recently Stan’s son Richard lived in the other (Woodview).

Photographs of Stan Chapman, Fred Hills, and a memorial plaque, are shown below.

The nursery ceased trading in the late 1970s / early 1980s and was sold to Mr J Sadler from Culverstone. On his death it was bought by Danny Chamberlain and continued to run as a nursery for some years. The area of the nursery is now leased to a small zoo and various other businesses.