If spring has started with a bit of warmth, many readers will have already dragged their lawn mower from its winter slumber and commenced this year’s mowing. But have you ever wondered where the first lawn mower came from?
Edwin Beard Budding from Stroud, Gloucestershire, was the man responsible. He was a talented engineer, and collaborated with John Lewis, who invented and manufactured machinery for the woollen industry. One of the inventions was a nap cutting machine with helical blades (seen below) which was passed over the newly woven cloth to give a good finish.
Budding may have had that light bulb moment, as he glanced out of the window to the scythe men cutting the grass, then back to the cutting machine. Perhaps he thought, ‘I could adapt this cutting machine to do the same job, and much more efficiently’.
Budding then worked on the design with John Ferrabee, the owner of Phoenix Iron Works in Thrupp, Gloucestershire, and on 31st August 1830, during the reign of King William IV, the first lawn mower was patented. The patent was granted for fourteen years and contained a large amount of technical information, but, perhaps with a wry smile on his face, Budding also included the following words, ‘Country gentlemen may find in using my machine themselves, an amusing, useful, and healthy exercise’. This was accompanied by an image of a gentleman in top hat and tails using the mower.
Mower production had a slow start. The machines were manufactured by Ferrabee at his iron works, and licences were issued to other companies. One of these companies was J.R. & A Ransome of Ipswich, who still manufacture commercial mowers today under the name of Ransomes Jacobsen Limited.
Budding’s talent for designing also led to the adjustable spanner, a pepperbox pistol, chaff cutters, improvements to cloth making machinery and much more. Sadly, he was not rewarded for his contribution to the grass cutting world. When he died in 1846, around one thousand lawn mowers had been produced.
Today, only two original Budding type lawn mowers have survived. One of these was manufactured in the 1840s and is now on display at the Museum of Gardening in Hassocks, West Sussex.. The second mower is from the 1850s and is held in the Science Museum, London.
The 1840s mower has been loaned to us by Ransomes Jacobsen. It was discovered in 1932 by a Ransomes salesman when he visited Thornham Hall, Suffolk to discuss a new motor mower. The gardener, having read in the local newspaper that Ransome Sims & Jefferies were celebrating 100 years of mower production, mentioned that they had one of the originals in an old shed at the end of the garden. Lord Henniker, the owner of Thornham Hall, later presented the lawn mower to Ransomes.
My research has also unearthed a very interesting story. The head gardener at Thornham Hall during the period 1840s to1870s was John Perkins. He was a keen horticulturist, and in 1875 he bred the ‘Lady Henniker’ apple, which is still grown today. Perkins received a First Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Lady Henniker apple was featured in the Florist and Pomologist magazine in 1875.
In 1877, Perkins wrote Floral Designs for the Table. It is an incredible work containing twenty-five elaborate designs for breakfast, luncheon, dinner and special occasions. He lists over three hundred plants, berries and ornamental leaves that can be utilised in his designs.
More importantly for me personally though, is that John Perkins would have been responsible for, and no doubt used, what is now the oldest surviving lawn mower in the world. Our museum, which is situated in a large Sussex oak barn within Tates of Sussex Garden Centre, Hassocks, West Sussex, has numerous other interesting and unique gardening tools and equipment on display, many with amazing stories.
We have arranged to loan the Budding mower to the British Library for their exhibition ‘Unearthed: The Power of Gardening’ from 2nd May to 10th August 2025. It will then return to our museum in Hassocks. We also hope to showcase it at other locations, so please check our website if you are planning a visit to the museum specifically to see the mower.
We thank Ransomes Jacobsen Limited for kindly agreeing to the loan of the mower enabling us us to share its fascinating story.
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