The named conservatory styles are shapes rather than periods, and each one is a different amount of roof, a different number of corners and a different base. Knowing what the words mean is useful because the shape is the single largest thing you choose after the size, and it decides the price far more than the frame colour ever will.
Victorian, and why the facets cost money
A Victorian conservatory has a bay front with three or five facets and a steeply pitched roof running into them. Every facet is a corner post, a roof hip and a set of cut glass units, so it is one of the more expensive shapes for a given floor area. It suits a period house and it wastes a little floor, because the facets take area that a square room would use.
The Edwardian conservatory, which is the square one
An Edwardian conservatory is rectangular or square with a hipped roof, and it uses its floor better than a Victorian of the same footprint. Fewer corners means fewer posts, fewer hips and less cutting, so it is generally cheaper to build and easier to furnish. It is the shape most people picture when they say conservatory.
Lean-to, gable and P-shaped
A lean-to is one sloping roof plane off the house and is the cheapest shape. A gable fronted conservatory has a vertical glazed front wall rising to a ridge, which gives height and drama and needs the structure to carry it. A P-shape or L-shape combines two of the others, which means a valley in the roof and a higher price than either half suggests.
Which shape your house will take
The roof of any conservatory has to fit under something, usually a first floor window or a gutter, and steeply pitched shapes need more height than shallow ones. That constraint decides more designs than taste does, which is why the first useful thing a surveyor does is measure the wall rather than show you a brochure.
Questions people ask about victorian conservatory
Is a Victorian conservatory more expensive than an Edwardian?
Generally yes for the same floor area, because the faceted front costs more in posts, hips and cut glass, and it gives slightly less usable floor. The difference is real but it is smaller than the difference the roof glazing specification makes.
Does the style affect planning permission?
Not directly. What matters is size, height, position and how much of the garden is covered, and a shape only matters where it pushes the building past one of those limits. In a conservation area appearance can matter, and that is a different question.
Which style suits a bungalow?
Usually a lean-to or a low pitched Edwardian, because a bungalow's eaves height limits how much roof you can get in. Steep Victorian and gable roofs need height that a bungalow rarely has, and forcing one in produces an awkward junction with the house.