Kew Gardens, or officially, The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, are extensive gardens and botanical glasshouses located between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. The name The Royal Botanical Gardens, Kew also refers to the organisation running Kew Gardens as well as Wakehurst Place gardens in Sussex. It is a huge research and education institution with a staff totalling 700 generating an income £44 million for the year ended 31 March 2006.
Kew Gardens were created by Lord Capel of Tewkesbury, who called it Kew Park. It was subsequently expanded by Princess Augusta, the widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales. A Chinese pagoda - there was a rage for things Oriental in the 18th century - was added to Kew Gardens in 1761, and is still standing today. King George III added to the gardens with help from William Aiton and Sir Joseph Banks.
Kew Gardens became the national botanical garden in 1840. Under director William Hooker, the gardens were expanded to 30 hectares (75 acres) and the arboretum extended to 109 hectares (270 acres). Today its size is 120 hectares (300 acres).
The Palm House of Kew Gardens, built between 1844 and 1848, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. Its glass panes were all hand-blown. The Temperate house, built in the 19th century, is twice the size of the Palm House, and is now the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence.
It was at Kew that rubber trees were successfully propagated for cultivation outside South America, and this leads to the rubber plantation industry of Malaya, now spread to neighbouring Southeast Asian countries.
In 1987, Diana the Princess of Wales opened Kew's third major conservatory, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, to commemorate Princess Augusta's associations with Kew. In October of that year, however, Kew Gardens lost hundreds of trees to the Great Storm of 1987.
Unesco inscribed Kew Gardens as a World Heritage Site in July 2003.
|
|
|
If you cannot see the above frame window, please click here to read the latest additions to London Travel Tips on a separate page.
Read the latest articles in my other websites: AsiaExplorers, World Greatest Sites, Earth Documentary, Exploring America, Happy Jobless Guy, Blogging Manual, The Flowering Garden, New York City Budget Travel Guide, Penang Travel Tips, Singapore Travel Tips, Exploring Malaysia and Travel Photography Workshop.
|
|
London Travel Tips and globe logo are trademark and service mark of Timothy Tye. |
| |
London Travel Tips is researched and written by Timothy Tye, universally known as Tim. The information provided is in goodwill and is believed to be correct and up-to-date at time of writing. We disclaim responsible for its usage, and encourage users to recheck the information before their trip. Some photos are provided by Panoramio. Photos provided by Panoramio are under the copyright of their owners. They may only be used under the terms & conditions specified by Panoramio. Photos by third-party owners are captioned and attributed. Photographs that belong to Tim are copyrighted and may not be reused unless you first obtain permission. All of Tim's photographs are available for commercial use under the following licensing terms. Tim is a Christian. Click here to know more about his beliefs.
|
|
Kew Gardens, London
