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Mervyn's Hand-Blown Rain Gauge
Mervyn's Hand-Blown Rain Gauge
Dispatched within 1–2 days
30-day returns policy
Free UK delivery with tracking
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Mervyn's Hand-Blown Rain Gauge
A rain gauge made to last a lifetime of British weather
Mervyn Tolley, 69, spent forty years blowing glass in the crystal works along the Stourbridge canal. Now he blows the glass and forges the iron for every one of these himself, in the shed behind his house. His hands are slower than they used to be and he works alone, so they come in small batches — this one is 96 pieces.
What it does for your garden
Four things change the morning after you put one in the ground.
You stop guessing whether to water
“It rained quite a bit last night” is usually a lot less than it felt like. One glance in the morning tells you whether to drag the hose out or leave the garden alone.
You stop drowning the plants you care about
Around 25 mm a week suits most established borders. Waterlogged roots fail from below while the leaves still look fine — the tube tells you when the last rain was already enough.
It measures your garden, not a grid miles away
The rainfall on your phone is a radar estimate spread over hundreds of homes. Everyone who gardens has watched a shower soak the next road and miss their own.
It warns you before a frost takes the tender plants
The dial reads the air out where the plants actually are, not on the sheltered house wall. In spring and autumn that can decide whether the dahlias come in tonight.
“A garden won’t tell you what it needs. It just quietly gets too much water or too little, and by the time you can see it, you’ve already lost something. All this does is take the guessing out of the morning.”
— Mervyn Tolley, Wordsley, Stourbridge
Made by hand, from the glass to the dragonfly
Mervyn blows the glass, forges the iron and shapes the ornaments himself. The sealed thermometer dial is the one part he buys in — and he checks every one on his bench before it goes on.
Blown at his own furnace
Gathered on the pipe and shaped by hand, then annealed overnight so the stress leaves the glass. Skipping that step is what makes cheap glass split at the first hard freeze.
Forged, not cast
Bar stock heated, bent and hammered, the stake drawn out to a point. The scroll under the songbird is curled by eye, not around a jig.
Colour pulled from the fire
The dragonfly’s blues and greens are temper colours, not paint — the shades steel passes through as it heats. No two come out quite the same.
Still readable in ten years
Moulded plastic yellows and clouds by its third summer. Properly annealed glass does none of that; both scales are marked onto each tube by hand.
What’s in the box
Arrives ready to go in the ground. No tools, nothing to assemble.
Glass tube
Hand-blown, scale in cm and inches
Forged frame & stake
Pushes straight into the soil
Dial thermometer
°C and °F, nothing to charge
Songbird & dragonfly
Hand-forged, coloured in the fire
Perfect for
Where these have ended up so far.
30-Day No-Questions Guarantee
Put it in the ground and live with it for a month. If it isn’t right, send it back — full refund, return postage on us. And if the glass ever breaks within two years, we send a new tube free.
Product details
| Tube | Hand-blown glass, annealed overnight |
| Rainfall scale | 0–17 cm (170 mm) down one side, 0–7 in down the other, marked onto each tube |
| Frame & stake | Hand-forged iron, matte black finish |
| Ornaments | Forged songbird; dragonfly coloured by tempering heat, not paint |
| Thermometer | Sealed dial, bench-checked by Mervyn. −30 to 50 °C and −20 to 120 °F, no batteries |
| Size | 70 cm high × 21 cm wide including stake |
| Winter care | Lift the tube out before the first hard frost (usually November); the frame stays out all year |
| Handmade | Glass wall, rim and dragonfly colour vary slightly from piece to piece |
| Origin | Wordsley, Stourbridge — current batch of 96 |
A Note From Mervyn
A Note From Mervyn
A note from Mervyn:
I blew glass to other people's orders for forty years, most of it in the crystal works along the Stourbridge canal. When I retired I lasted four months before I built a bench in the shed behind the house. The first winter I lost two plastic rain gauges to the frost, so I made one that wouldn't split: a blown tube, annealed overnight, sitting in an open forged ring you lift out when frost is forecast.
I'm 69 now and I work alone, so they come in small batches. This one is 96 gauges. When it's gone, the next won't be ready before spring.
Free UK Delivery
Free UK Delivery
Free delivery across the UK
- Dispatched within 1–2 working days, with tracking
- The glass tube travels in its own sleeve, packed separately from the forged frame
- Size: 70 × 21 cm including the stake — push it into the soil, no tools
- 30-day money-back guarantee — just email info@cedarandtinco.com
Frequently Asked Questions
Got a question? Here's how to reach us.
Got a question? Here's how to reach us.
Our small team answers every email, as fast as we possibly can, and anything about the glass goes straight to Mervyn. Whether you have a question about your order or just want to talk gardens, we're here.
You can reach us:
- Mon – Fri: 9:00 am – 5:00 pm (UK time)
- Saturday: 10:00 am – 3:00 pm (UK time)
Email: info@cedarandtinco.com
Can I return my order if I don't like it?
Can I return my order if I don't like it?
Of course. If the gauge isn't right for your garden, or for no reason at all, email us within 30 days and you get your money back. No restocking fee, no hassle. And if the glass ever breaks within two years, we send you a replacement tube free.
How are your products made?
How are your products made?
Mervyn blows every tube himself at the furnace in his shed in Wordsley, anneals it overnight so the stress leaves the glass, then fills it from a measuring cylinder and marks both scales — millimetres and inches — onto that one tube. The frame, stake, songbird and dragonfly are forged at his own fire; the dragonfly's blues and greens are temper colours, not paint. The sealed dial thermometer is the one bought-in part, and every one is checked on his bench before it leaves.