Sleaford and District Civic Trust installs plaque at The Pines - home of Charles Sharpe Seeds

A blue plaque pays tribute to an international seeds company.

Former employees of Sharpes Seeds were invited to the unveiling of the plaque by the Sleaford and District Civic Trust on Monday (December 9) at The Pines building in Sleaford. The plaque was unveiled by Faith Hopkins.

The house was built by nurseryman and seedman John Sharpe around 1830 and later occupied by his son Charles Sharpe who founded one of the biggest seed companies in the UK, employing over 400 people in Sleaford at one time.

Charles Sharpe Seeds was thought to have invented the paper seed packets still popular in garden centres throughout the world today. From small beginnings in rural Lincolnshire the company transformed into an international business breeding new varieties of plants of all sorts and trading throughout the world.

The plaque is the third to be placed in Sleaford by the Sleaford and District Civic Trust.