The Oldest Lawn Mower in the World

clive987
Jan 20, 2025
3 min read

Updated: Dec 31, 2025

If spring has started with a bit of warmth, many readers will have already dragged their lawn mower from its winter slumber and commenced this year’s mowing. But have you ever wondered where the first lawn mower came from?

Edwin Beard Budding from Stroud, Gloucestershire, was the man responsible. He was a talented engineer, and collaborated with John Lewis, who invented and manufactured machinery for the woollen industry. One of the inventions was a nap cutting machine with helical blades (seen below) which was passed over the newly woven cloth to give a good finish.

Budding may have had that light bulb moment, as he glanced out of the window to the scythe men cutting the grass, then back to the cutting machine. Perhaps he thought, ‘I could adapt this cutting machine to do the same job, and much more efficiently’.

Budding then worked on the design with John Ferrabee, the owner of Phoenix Iron Works in Thrupp, Gloucestershire, and on 31st August 1830, during the reign of King William IV, the first lawn mower was patented. The patent was granted for fourteen years and contained a large amount of technical information, but, perhaps with a wry smile on his face, Budding also included the following words, ‘Country gentlemen may find in using my machine themselves, an amusing, useful, and healthy exercise’. This was accompanied by an image of a gentleman in top hat and tails using the mower.

Image of a country gentlemen which was included with the patent

Mower production had a slow start. The machines were manufactured by Ferrabee at his iron works, and shipped around the country to dealers. J.R. & A Ransome of Ipswich, were appointed wholesale and retail agent for the East of England. Ransomes still manufacture commercial mowers today under the name of Ransomes Jacobsen Limited.

Budding’s talent for designing also led to the adjustable spanner, a pepperbox pistol, chaff cutters, improvements to cloth making machinery and much more. Sadly, he was not rewarded for his contribution to the grass cutting world. When he died in 1846, around one thousand lawn mowers had been produced.

Today, only two original Budding type lawn mowers have survived. No.1623 was manufactured in the 1830s/early 1840s and was on display at the Museum of Gardening in Hassocks, West Sussex during 2025. The second mower No.3157 from the late 1840s/early 1850s is held by the Science Museum, London.

Mower No. 1623 was loaned to us by Ransomes Jacobsen Ltd for a special exhibition during 2025. It was discovered in 1932 by a Ransomes salesman when he visited Thornham Hall, Suffolk to discuss a new motor mower. The gardener, having read in the local newspaper that Ransome Sims & Jefferies were celebrating 100 years of mower production*, mentioned that they had one of the originals in an old shed at the end of the garden. Lord Henniker, the owner of Thornham Hall, later presented the lawn mower to Ransomes.

My research has also unearthed a very interesting story. The head gardener at Thornham Hall during the period 1840s to 1870s was John Perkins. He was a keen horticulturist, and in 1875 he bred the ‘Lady Henniker’ apple, which is still grown today. Perkins received a First Class Certificate from the Royal Horticultural Society and the Lady Henniker apple was featured in the Florist and Pomologist magazine in 1875.

A photograph of John Perkins taken in 1866.

In 1877, Perkins wrote Floral Designs for the Table. It is an incredible work containing twenty-five elaborate designs for breakfast, luncheon, dinner and special occasions. He lists over three hundred plants, berries and ornamental leaves that can be utilised in his designs.

A page from Floral Designs for the Table

More importantly for me personally though, is that John Perkins would have been responsible for, and no doubt used, what is now the oldest surviving lawn mower in the world. Our museum, which is situated in a large Sussex oak barn within Tates of Sussex Garden Centre, Hassocks, West Sussex, has numerous other interesting and unique gardening tools and equipment on display, many with amazing stories.

The Budding mower was loaned to the British Library for their exhibition ‘Unearthed: The Power of Gardening’ from 2nd May to 10th August 2025.

We thank Ransomes Jacobsen Limited for kindly agreeing to the loan of the mower enabling us us to share its fascinating story.

*Jan 2026. Research is ongoing and indicates all Budding mowers in the first 20+ yrs of production were manufactured solely by J. Ferrabee of Stroud, Glos. Ransomes were wholesale/retail agents during this period, manufacturing their first Budding mower in 1853 when their company name was Ransomes & Sims.