Herefordshire is one of the best afforested counties in England. The high fertility of the land shows in the vigour of trees and other plants, a fact appreciated over two hundred years ago by one James Cranston, a London land surveyor. In 1764, he established a nursery for growing young trees at Kings Acre, just to the west of the city.
During the 19th century, Cranston Nurseries became renowned for their stock plants, particularly, their roses. John Cranston, great grandson of James, came to be considered the leading rosarian of the day. Helped by the devoted enthusiasm of a number of eminant rosarians in the county, he became instrumental in the formation of the Hereford and West of England Rose Society, in 1867, the first such organisation in the country. Some years later, in 1874, a group of enthusiasts met in the Cranston's garden and discussed the formation of a National society. Today, the Royal National Rose Society, the body which emerged from that meeting, is one of the most significant specialist flower societies in the world.
In time, Cranston's Nurseries became Kings Acre Nurseries, until the 1930's, when Wyevale Nurseries took over the production of stock plants on over 100 acres of nursery beds. Wyevale pioneered the Garden Centre approach to displaying and selling all manner of garden requirements.
Today, Wyevale Garden Centres plc. is one of the leading garden centre firms in the United Kingdom.