Wem Nursery

Introduction

Henry Eckford, a nurseryman of Wem, is reckoned the 'father of the sweet pea'. Eckford took a 10 acre nursery in the Soulton Road in the early 1880s. His sweet pea business thrived to the extent that he had to buy the three houses next to his own in Market Street, in order to provide space for warehousing and packaging his seeds.