Yvonne Archibald

Notcutts Ltd.

Established in 1897, our family company now has 18 Notcutts Garden Centres across England. Since then our name has represented excellence in gardening, offering what we believe to be the best products and friendly advice to help our customers. The rich history of the company means that family values and expertise are still at the heart of the business today. Notcutts Garden Centres and Head Office stand on land which was originally owned by the Woodbridge Priory, dissolved by Henry VIII. The grounds were purchased from the Crown by Thomas Seckford, the Woodbridge benefactor and then passed into the hands of the Carthew family. A nurseryman called Thomas Wood purchased the land in 1749 and started Woods Nursery. Thomas Wood passed the nursery to his sons, and eventually it came to John Wood, thus remaining within the Wood family for almost 150 years. Wood died without succession in 1897. The nursery with its fine, old Georgian house, was put up for auction on 11th February 1897. William Notcutt moved from Wrington in Somerset to Ipswich in 1724, as a pastor, bringing the Notcutt name to Suffolk. The first Notcutt family member to enter into the horticultural field was Roger Crompton Notcutt (later known as RCN) who was born in 1869. Unlike his predecessors, he was not burdened by obligations to enter the legal practice. It was recommended that, due to ill health, he should pursue an out-door life. Fortunately he also had a keen interest in nature, particularly in the growing of plants. This was an interest he was able to pursue when in his teens, he acquired the Broughton Road Nursery in Ipswich. In August 2007, 110 years after purchasing the nursery business from the estate of John Woods, the Notcutt family decided to sell the business to the management team of the nursery and so started a new phase in the history of the nursery. During the 110 years of Notcutts ownership, Notcutts Nurseries had grown into the largest wholesale production nursery in the country.