The Garden Shed

If an Englishman’s home is his castle, what does that make his shed? For thousands of years the shed (or “scead” – meaning “shade” – to give it its true Anglo-Saxon name) has been a place of sanctuary, reflection and calm for the beleaguered English male. But the traditional shed is now under threat, despite more than 1.5 million being sold last year. Allotments are disappearing due to demand for land for housing; council bureaucracy and health and safety regulations make building your shed an increasingly tricky business; price tags are soaring (did you hear about the cliff-top shed in Dorset on the market for £20,000?); and, worst of all, WOMEN are invading them! You are now as likely to find a shed harbouring a beauty spa or mini-gym as one with garden tools or a train set. Sheds are big money: books about shed culture on the bestseller lists, there has been an exhibition at the V&A, celebrity sheds have become tourist attractions (Kipling wrote in his) – the shed is dead, long live the shed!

Photo: Maria Gibbs