FIVE years of hard work came to a triumphant end last week as the refurbished glasshouse at Quarry Bank was unveiled.

The National Trust acquired the 1820s structure in a derelict state as part of the kitchen garden in 2010, and following a lengthy fundraising, research and reconstruction effort, the glasshouse is now welcoming new visitors to Styal.

Eleanor Underhill, general manager at Quarry Bank, believes the restoration is ‘massively important’ for Quarry Bank, and she was ‘proud and relieved’ to see it transformed after five years’ work.

“It was standing here derelict and ignored – no one knew it was here because it was in private ownership,” she told the Guardian.

“But it’s such an important part of the story of Samuel Greg who built the mill – I just don’t see how you could understand Samuel without seeing he had the garden up here.

“Quarry Bank is seen as highly significant internationally as example of the early stages of industrialisation, and our goal is to be able to present the whole site to visitors so they can get that sense of the whole property.”

The glasshouse was built to supply the owners of Quarry Bank mill, the Greg family, with tender fruit of the time, such as grapes and peaches. 

Its innovative design and use of modern technology sent a clear message to guests about the Gregs’ financial success and position in society.

Emma Armstrong, senior project coordinator, told the Guardian that the glasshouse renovation helps to ‘complete the story’ at Quarry Bank.

“It shows the ingenuity of Samuel Greg,” she said.

“He used it to build the mill, and he wanted to be at the forefront of technology so he built this glasshouse here.

“We think it’s the earliest curvilinear cast iron glasshouse. He wanted the best and he wanted to show it off to his friends and family, and grow the great produce to show off.”

Since the start of fundraising for the glasshouse in 2014, more than 600 people have made contributions towards the renovation, with many sponsoring its glass panels.

Around £1million was raised in total for the glasshouse, and Sally Bowden, fundraising manager, is grateful for the ‘huge effort’ donors have made towards the entire Quarry Bank Project over the past five years.

“It’s been wonderful from our point of view that the local community has really rallied around, people have sponsored panes of glass, and everybody seems to feel it is part of their story now as well as Quarry Bank’s,” she said.

“It seems to be a place that really gets under your skin because it tells the story of ordinary people, not people in mansion houses we can’t really relate to.

“People are interested in how ordinary people lived their lives in the past and this will bring it to life.”

The glasshouse was purchased by the National Trust in 2010, and work on redeveloping it began two years later with applications made to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

From there, volunteers and researchers studied the glasshouse’s heating systems, structure and history, before physical construction could finally be carried out over the past year.

Archaeologist Jamie Lund paid tribute to everyone involved in the project.

“When I first saw the glasshouse it was in a very poor state,” he said.

“We didn’t know a lot about it, its age, its history. My job was to remove the material, pick apart the fabric, and fill the gaps in our knowledge.

“We couldn’t have even thought about doing it without our wonderful volunteers who have given thousands of hours to the project.”

The restoration of the glasshouse is one part of Quarry Bank’s ongoing development, which will see the millowner’s house open later this year, as well as the workers’ cottage.

“We’re really showing the different stories here so when people visit in the autumn, they will hear about the family story, the workers’ story, and the garden and mill technology,” Emma added.

“It will be a complete story of the industrial community.”