The Fernhurst Research Station was a

crop protection Crop protection is the science and practice of managing plant diseases, weeds, and other pests (both vertebrate and invertebrate) that damage crops and forestry. Crops include field crops (maize, wheat, rice, etc.), vegetable crops (potatoes, cabb ...

chemical research institute in

West Sussex West Sussex is a county in South East England on the English Channel coast. The ceremonial county comprises the shire districts of Adur, Arun, Chichester, Horsham, and Mid Sussex, and the boroughs of Crawley and Worthing. Covering an ar ...

, mainly run by ICI, for the fruit industry. The site is to the east of the A286, around a mile south of the village of Fernhurst and a mile north of the

Haslemere The town of Haslemere () and the villages of Shottermill and Grayswood are in south west Surrey, England, around south west of London. Together with the settlements of Hindhead and Beacon Hill, they comprise the civil parish of Haslemere i ...

to Petersfield

Serpent Trail The Serpent Trail is a long distance footpath. It runs from Haslemere to Petersfield, which are 11 miles apart in a straight line, by a route which is designed to join up the many heathland areas on greensand in the western Weald. The path ...

History

Plant Protection Limited moved to the site in 1945 and opened a research institute on the estate of Sir Felix Schuster (1854-1936). The research institute was to investigate pest and disease control in horticultural crops. As well as being an administrative site, the station comprised a orchard including 9 acres of

plum A plum is a fruit of some species in ''Prunus'' subg. ''Prunus'.'' Dried plums are called prunes. History Plums may have been one of the first fruits domesticated by humans. Three of the most abundantly cultivated species are not found i ...

s and 26 acres of

dessert apple Table apples or dessert apples are a group of apple cultivars grown for eating raw as opposed to cooking or cidermaking. Table apples are usually sweet and the most prized exhibit particular aroma variations that differentiate them from other app ...

s at Hurstfold Farm. In June 1951 an international conference, with scientists from 39 countries, took place at the site on food scarcity. On 10 May 1955, the site was visited by the

Duke of Edinburgh Duke of Edinburgh, named after the city of Edinburgh in Scotland, was a substantive title that has been created three times since 1726 for members of the British royal family. It does not include any territorial landholdings and does not produc ...

. Another international conference took place at the site in June 1956. In 1958 Plant Protection Limited became a

wholly owned subsidiary A subsidiary, subsidiary company or daughter company is a company (law), company owned or controlled by another company, which is called the parent company or holding company. Two or more subsidiaries that either belong to the same parent company ...

Imperial Chemical Industries Imperial Chemical Industries (ICI) was a British chemical company. It was, for much of its history, the largest manufacturer in Britain. It was formed by the merger of four leading British chemical companies in 1926. Its headquarters were at M ...

: ICI Plant Protection Division, which had its international headquarters at the site until the 1990s; in 1986 a new international conference centre was opened on the site by Prime Minister

Margaret Thatcher Margaret Hilda Thatcher, Baroness Thatcher (; 13 October 19258 April 2013) was Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1979 to 1990 and Leader of the Conservative Party (UK), Leader of the Conservative Party from 1975 to 1990. S ...

. ICI Public Health was formed in 1989 and based at the site. Throughout its history, indoor and outdoor crops were grown for wholesale and for research, and the station developed advanced growing and application methods for crops, including the establishment of a film unit. In April 1990, the site won a

Queen's Award for Technological Achievement Queens is a borough of New York City. Queens or Queen's may also refer to: Arts and entertainment * Queens (group), a Polish musical group * "Queens" (Saara Aalto song), 2018 * ''Queens'' (novel), by Stephen Pickles, 1984 * "Queens", a song by C ...

for herbicides, fungicides and pesticides. The site was taken over by

Zeneca Zeneca (officially Zeneca Group PLC) was a British multinational pharmaceutical company headquartered in London, United Kingdom. It was formed in June 1993 by the demerger of the pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals businesses of Imperial Che ...

in 1994, and later

Syngenta Syngenta AG is a provider of agricultural science and technology, in particular seeds and pesticides with its management headquarters in Basel, Switzerland. It is owned by ChemChina, a Chinese state-owned enterprise. Syngenta was founded in 2 ...

, becoming the headquarters of Syngenta Europe Ltd. Syngenta left the site in December 2001, and the site ceased to function as a research station or administrative centre apart from the principal building. The other office buildings were left unoccupied and were subsequently comprehensively vandalised. At its peak, around 700 people had worked at the site.

Fate

The redevelopment of the Highfield part of the site for housing was approved by the South Downs National Park Authority in 2020 and expanded upon in 2021.

References

External links

Britain From Above 1951: Verdley

Britain From Above: Hurstfold
{{authority control 1945 establishments in England 2001 disestablishments in England AstraZeneca Chemical industry in the United Kingdom Chemical research institutes Crop protection Former research institutes Fruit production Herbicides Horticultural organisations based in the United Kingdom Imperial Chemical Industries Pesticides in the United Kingdom Research institutes established in 1945 Research institutes disestablished in 2001 Research institutes in West Sussex

History

Fate

See also

References

External links