The chronology of the garden gnome of today dates back to ancient Greece when the first small statues appeared in ancient Rome and some were depicted as demigods in the likeness of Priapus. His role was to ensure fertility and to oversee the welfare of plants, gardens, and animals around Roman homes, and the roles eventually extended to ward of sinister influences.

It was surmised the gnomes came alive during the evening but another theory was the statues were just that and the real underground dwellers had been alive all along and since they could be rather elusive it was hard to prove or disproved the contradicting ideas on the matter.

The popularity of the garden gnome spread to many European cottages and households with a copious field of those making the statuettes for sale.

With the first contact around 1840 to Britain and France, it was not long until the craze continued to eventually be available to many countries around the world. A possible concept of the garden gnome arriving in Britain in 1847 could be traced in some way to the time Sir Charles Isham on a trip to Nuremberg, Germany discovered these decorations.