about us
How the Nursery Began
For 73+ years, Vincent Nurseries and Plant Centre in Eddington Lane, Herne Bay, has been operated by the same family. The Nursery began when Arthur Vincent and Freda Maunder moved to the town from Hertfordshire in 1946 with their two sons, Philip and David.
Sadly, three months after moving, Arthur passed away. Freda then opened their Eddington Lane home as a guest house. Philip and David decided to buy a field next to the house and began to grow fruit and vegetables. They named their fledgling business ‘Vincent Nurseries’ after their late father. To sell their produce David and Philip, and his wife Norma, began a green grocery round, using a horse, Joe, and a cart- which was once a familiar sight around the town.
In the mid 1950s Joe was replaced with a van and produce was sold to local green grocers and wholesalers, as far as Covent Garden Market in London. Along with vegetables and fruit, pigs and chickens were also reared on site. In 1959, the first glasshouse was erected – a small wooden structure which helped extend the growing season.
More glasshouses and plastic tunnel were built over the years, and gradually all the wooden structures were replaced with aluminium buildings that were much better to withstand the winds. The nursery, however, suffered substantial damage during the hurricane of 1987, when tunnels were flattened and glasshouses twisted and smashed. Once repaired and replaced, the glasshouses produced a range of crops including lettuce, tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers as well as chrysanthemum blooms, pot and bedding plants.
about us continued
In the mid 1970s, a farm shop was opened on site to sell fruit and vegetables to customers, and bedding plant production became a major part of the business.
In 1983, Phillip’s daughter Christine joined the family business as a partner after the death of David Maunder. Christine, who had studied nursery stock production at Hadlow College, used her knowledge of ornamental plant production to steer the business to expand into this type of plant production and retail. In the 1940’s and 50’s there were 4 other nurseries and Eddington Farm in Eddington Lane, today Vincent Nurseries remains the only nursery still trading .
about us – today
Still family run, the nursery continues to produce a range of pot and pack bedding plants, geraniums and fuchsias, whilst continuing to expand the range of garden sundries, compost and aggregates offered through the centre.
