Deliberately sculptured Gardens have been around for millennia in one form or another and the evolving nature of the garden furniture we use to enjoy these spaces has been largely in keeping with the evolution of technology at the time.
Way back to Greek and Roman times, people have created these spaces for many reasons. Whether it was a garden of worship where people wanted to sit on furniture to peacefully give praise to their particular God or religion or simply relax in furniture to admire their surroundings.
Garden seats were in those days clearly made from wood and the carvings and level of craftsmanship obviously depended on the wealth of the individual, but gardens were commonplace, even in places like Pompei.
Furniture moved on through the ages and differed drastically depending on where in the world we looked at. The far east had some amazing ancient garden furniture to set off the often blossom tree filled spaces in Japan.
The middle ages within England saw a lower point in gardening flamboyance and we tended to see more simple turf benches made for practicality rather than opulence, but things still progressed and when we reached the Elizabethan and then Victorian ages, where money in some quarters was more plentiful and people dragging their home furniture from inside – outside became less and less prevalent. Lighter weight furniture began appearing to facilitate the movement between home and garden and this was continued with many innovative furniture designs.
Latterly and in our current or recent history, Gardens have become more and more important and spaces that we tend to use more often, so a rapid expansion of garden furniture from firms like Waterside and the accessories they supply began to grow. Nowadays we see electricity playing a significant part with garden lighting and even massage elements within our garden chairs etc.
Survise to say, the gardens we chose to love and cherish today in our modern history enables us to choose the best furniture for our gardens or the most cost efficient items depending on our situation, that ultimately make us feel great within our own homes and surrounding perimeters.
Long may it continue, and long may the relaxation and long lazy evenings stay part of our current and fortunate local history.
