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Citrus trees grown in tubs and wintered under cover were a feature of Renaissance gardens, once glass-making technology enabled sufficient expanses of clear glass to be produced. The Orangerie at the Palace of the Louvre, 1617, inspired imitations that were not eclipsed until the development of the modern greenhouse in the 1840s. An Orangery was a feature of royal and aristocratic residences through the 17th and 18th centuries.
Some European Orangeries
Some Orangeries in the UK
The Orangery at Kew 1761 is the earliest surviving work there by Sir William Chambers. At 28 m (92 ft) long, it was the largest glasshouse in Britain when it was built. Though it was designed as an arcade with end pavilions to winter oranges, the light levels were too low under its solid roof for it to be successful.
The Orangery at Margam Park, Wales, was built between 1787 and 1793 to house a large collection of orange, lemon and citron trees inherited by Thomas Mansel Talbot. The original house has been razed, but the surviving Orangery, at 327 feet, is the longest one in Wales.
- Margam Park: (http://www.neath-porttalbot.gov.uk/margampark/orangery_history.html) Orangery
Other Orangeries
In the United States the earliest surviving Orangery is at the Tayloe house, Mount Airy, Virginia.
Reference
- Mary Woods, Glass Houses: A History of Greenhouses, Orangeries and Conservatories 1996
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