| Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew * | |
|---|---|
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Type | Cultural |
| Criteria | ii, iii, iv |
| Reference | 1084 |
| Region ** | Europe and North America |
| Inscription history | |
| Inscription | 2003 (27th Session) |
| * Name as inscribed on World Heritage List ** Region as classified by UNESCO |
|
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to as Kew Gardens, is 121 hectares[1] of gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond and Kew in southwest London, England. "The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew" and the brand name "Kew" are also used as umbrella terms for the institution that runs both the gardens at Kew and Wakehurst Place gardens in Sussex. The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, a non-departmental public body sponsored by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, is an internationally important botanical research and education institution with 700 staff and an income of £56 million for the year ended 31 March 2008, as well as a visitor attraction receiving almost two million visits in that year.[2] Created in 1759,[3] the gardens celebrated their 250th anniversary in 2009.
The Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is responsible for the world's largest collection of living plants. The organisation employs more than 650 scientists and other staff. The living collections include more than 30,000 different kinds of plants, while the herbarium, which is one of the largest in the world, has over seven million preserved plant specimens. The library contains more than 750,000 volumes, and the illustrations collection contains more than 175,000 prints and drawings of plants. The Kew site includes four Grade I listed buildings and 36 Grade II listed structures in an internationally significant landscape.[4]
Kew Gardens originated in the exotic garden at Kew Park formed by Lord Capel John of Tewkesbury. It was enlarged and extended by Augusta, Dowager Princess of Wales, the widow of Frederick, Prince of Wales, for whom Sir William Chambers built several garden structures. One of these, the lofty Chinese pagoda built in 1761 still remains. George III enriched the gardens, aided by William Aiton and Sir Joseph Banks. The old Kew Park (by then renamed the White House), was demolished in 1802. The "Dutch House" adjoining was purchased by George III in 1781 as a nursery for the royal children. It is a plain brick structure now known as Kew Palace.
Some of the early plants came from the walled garden established by William Coys at Stubbers in North Ockendon.[5] The collections grew somewhat haphazardly until the appointment of the first collector, Francis Masson, in 1771.[6] In 1840 the gardens were adopted as a national botanical garden. Under Kew's director, William Hooker, the gardens were increased to 30 hectares (75 acres) and the pleasure grounds, or arboretum, extended to 109 hectares (270 acres), and later to its present size of 120 hectares (300 acres). The first curator was John Smith.
The Palm House was built by architect Decimus Burton and iron-maker Richard Turner between 1844 and 1848, and was the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron. The structure's panes of glass are all hand-blown. The Temperate house, which is twice as large as the Palm House, followed later in the 19th century. It is now the largest Victorian glasshouse in existence.
Kew was the location of the successful effort in the 19th century to propagate rubber trees for cultivation outside South America.
In February 1913 the Tea House was burnt down by suffragettes Olive Wharry and Lilian Lenton during a series of arson attacks in London.[7]
In October 1987 Kew Gardens lost hundreds of trees in the Great Storm of 1987.
In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites[3] by UNESCO.
The current director is Professor Stephen D. Hopper, who succeeded Professor Sir Peter Crane. In November 2010, it was announced that Dr Tim Entwisle, Executive Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, was to become Director of Conservation, Living Collections & Estates.[8]
Herbarium
The Kew herbarium is one of the largest in the world with approximately 7 million specimens used primarily for taxonomic study.[9] The herbarium is rich in types for all regions of the world, especially the tropics.
Despite unfavourable growing conditions (atmospheric pollution from London, dry soils and low rainfall) Kew remains one of the most comprehensive plant collections in Britain. In an attempt to expand the collections away from these unfavourable conditions, Kew has established two out-stations, at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, a National Trust property, and (jointly with the Forestry Commission) Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, the latter specialising in growing conifers.
The Harvard University Herbaria and the Australian National Herbarium co-operate with Kew in the IPNI database to produce an authoritative source of information on botanical nomenclature.
Seedbank
Kew is important as a seedbank. It co-sponsors the Millennium Seed Bank Project inside the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building at Wakehurst Place in Sussex.
Library and archives
The library and archives at Kew are one of the world's largest botanical collections, with over half a million items, including books, botanical illustrations, photographs, letters and manuscripts, periodicals, and maps. The Jodrell Library was recently merged with the Economic Botany and Mycology Libraries and all are now housed in the Jodrell Laboratory.
Forensic horticulture
Kew provides advice and guidance to police forces around the world where plant material may provide important clues or evidence in cases. In one famous case the forensic science department at Kew were able to ascertain that the contents of the stomach of a headless corpse found in the river Thames contained a highly toxic African bean.[10]
Economic Botany
The Sustainable Uses of Plants group (formerly the Centre for Economic Botany), focus on the uses of plants in the United Kingdom and the world's arid and semi-arid zones. The Centre is also responsible for curation of the Economic Botany Collection, which contains more than 90,000 botanical raw materials and ethnographic artefacts, some of which are on display in the Plants + People exhibit in Museum No. 1. The Centre is now located in the Jodrell Laboratory.[11]
Jodrell Laboratory
The original Jodrell laboratory, named after Mr T.J. Phillips Jodrell who funded it was established in 1877 and consisted of four research rooms and an office. Originally research was conducted into plant physiology but this was gradually superseded by botanical research. In 1934 an artists studio was added together with a photographic darkroom highlighting the importance of botanical illustration. In 1965, following increasing overcrowding a new building was constructed and research expanded into seed collection for plant conservation. The biochemistry section also expanded to facilitate research into secondary compounds that could be derived from plants for medicinal purposes. In 1994 the centre was expanded again, tripling in size and a decade later it was further expanded by the addition of the Wolfson Wing.[10]
In March 2006, the Davies Alpine House opened, the third version of an alpine house since 1887. Although only 16 metres long the apex of the roof arch extends to a height of 10 metres in order to allow the natural airflow of a building of this shape to aid in the all important ventilation required for the type of plants to be housed.
The new house features a set of automatically operated blinds that prevent it overheating when the sun is too hot for the plants together with a system that blows a continuous stream of cool air over the plants. The main design aim of the house is to allow maximum light transmission. To this end the glass is of a special low iron type that allows 90% of the ultraviolet light in sunlight to pass. It is attached by high tension steel cables so that no light is obstructed by traditional glazing bars.
To conserve energy the cooling air is not refrigerated but is cooled by being passed through a labyrinth of pipes buried under the house at a depth where the temperature remains suitable all year round. A design goal of the house is that the maximum temperature will not exceed 20 degrees Celsius.
Kew's collection of Alpine plants (defined as those that grow above the tree-line in their locale - ground level at the poles rising to over 2000 metres in the Alps), extends to over 7000 and as the Alpine house can only house around 200 at a time the ones on show are regularly rotated.
Built for the Japan-British Exhibition (1910) and moved to Kew in 1911, the Chokushi-Mon (敕使門 ‘Imperial Envoy's Gateway’) is a four-fifths scale replica of the karamon (gateway) of the Nishi Hongan-ji temple in Kyoto. It lies about 140 m west of the Pagoda and is surrounded by a reconstruction of a traditional Japanese garden.
Kew has one of the largest compost heaps in Europe, made from green waste from the gardens and the waste from the stables of the Household Cavalry. The compost is mainly used in the gardens, but on occasion has been auctioned as part of a fund-raising event for the gardens.[12]
The compost heap is in an area of the gardens not accessible to the general public, but a viewing platform has been erected to allow visitors to observe the heap as it goes through its cycle.[12]
Free tours of the gardens are conducted by trained volunteers and leave from Victoria Gate at 11 am and 2 pm every day (except Christmas Day).
This competition is now an annual event with an outdoor display of entries during the summer months.
Kew Palace is the smallest of the British royal palaces. It was built by Samuel Fortrey, a Dutch merchant in around 1631. It was later purchased by George III. The construction method is known as Flemish bond and involves laying the bricks with long and short sides alternating. This and the gabled front tend to give the construction a definite Dutch appearance.
To the rear of the building is the "Queen's Garden" which includes a collection of plants believed to have medicinal qualities. Only plants that were extant in England by the 17th century are grown in the garden.
The building underwent significant restoration before being reopened to the public in 2006.
It is administered separately from the gardens and is the only permanently open attraction within the grounds that requires an additional fee to view.
Following the Japan 2001 festival, Kew acquired a Japanese wooden house called a minka. It was originally erected in around 1900 in a suburb of Okazaki. Japanese craftsmen reassembled the framework and British builders who had worked on the Globe Theatre added the mud wall panels.
Work on the house started on 7 May 2001 and when the framework was completed on 21 May, a Japanese ceremony was held to mark what was considered an auspicious occasion. Work on the building of the house was completed in November 2001 but the internal artifacts were not all in place until 2006.
The Minka house is located within the bamboo collection in the West central part of the gardens.
The Marianne North Gallery was built in the 1880s to house the paintings of Marianne North, an MP's daughter who travelled alone to North and South America, South Africa and many parts of Asia, at a time when women rarely did so, to paint plants. The gallery has 832 of her paintings. The paintings were left to Kew by the artist and a condition of the bequest is that the layout of the paintings in the gallery may not be altered.
The gallery had suffered considerable structural degradation since its creation and during a period from 2008 to 2009 major restoration and refurbishment took place. During the time the gallery was closed the opportunity was also taken to restore the paintings to their original condition. The gallery reopened in October 2009.
The gallery originally opened in 1882 and is the only permanent exhibition dedicated solely to the work of one woman in Great Britain.
Near the Palm House is a building known as "Museum No. 1" (even though it is the only museum on the site), which was designed by Decimus Burton and opened in 1857. Housing Kew's economic botany collections including tools, ornaments, clothing, food and medicines, its aim was to illustrate human dependence on plants. The building was refurbished in 1998. The upper two floors are now an education centre and the ground floor houses the "Plants+People" exhibition which highlights the variety of plants and the ways that people use them.
Admission to the galleries and museum is free after paying admission to the Gardens.
Originally designed for Buckingham Palace, this was moved to Kew in 1836 by King William IV.[13] With an abundance of natural light the building is used to house displays of photographs and small, educational exhibitions.
The Orangery was designed by Sir William Chambers, and was completed in 1761. It measures 28 m x 10 m. After many changes of use, it is currently used as a restaurant.
In the South East corner of Kew Gardens stands the Great Pagoda (by Sir William Chambers), erected in 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Ta. The lowest of the ten octagonal storeys is 49 feet (15 m) in diameter. From the base to the highest point is 163 feet (50 m).
Each storey finishes with a projecting roof, after the Chinese manner, originally covered with ceramic tiles and adorned with large dragons; a story is still propagated that they were made of gold and were reputedly sold by George IV to settle his debts.[14] The truth is that the dragons were made of wood painted gold, and simply rotted away with the ravages of time. The walls of the building are composed of brick. The staircase, 253 steps, is in the centre of the building. The Pagoda was closed to the public for many years, but was reopened for the summer months of 2006. There are still, supposedly, plans for it to open to the public once again.
During the Second World War holes were cut in each floor to allow for drop-testing of model bombs.[15]
The Palm House (1844–1848) was the result of cooperation between architect Decimus Burton and iron-founder Richard Turner,[16] and continues upon the glass house design principles developed by John Claudius Loudon[17][18] and Joseph Paxton.[18] A space frame of wrought iron arches, held together by horizontal tubular structures containing long prestressed cables,[18][19] supports glass panes which were originally[16] tinted green with copper oxide to reduce the significant heating effect. The 19m high central nave is surrounded by a walkway at 9m height, allowing visitors a closer look upon the palm tree crowns.
Kew's third major conservatory, the Princess of Wales Conservatory, designed by architect Gordon Wilson, was opened in 1987 by Diana, Princess of Wales in commemoration of her predecessor Augusta's associations with Kew.[20] In 1989 the conservatory received the Europa Nostra award for conservation.[21] The conservatory houses ten computer-controlled micro-climatic zones, with the bulk of the greenhouse volume composed of Dry Tropics and Wet Tropics plants. Significant numbers of orchids, water lilies, cacti, lithops, carnivorous plants and bromeliads are housed in the various zones. The cactus collection also extends outside the conservatory where some hardier species can be found.
With an area of 4499 square meters the conservatory is designed to minimise the amount of energy taken to run it and to this end the cooler zones are grouped around the outside with the more tropical zones in the central area where heat is conserved. The glass roof extends down to the ground which give the conservatory a distinctive appearance and helps to maximise the use of the sun's energy.
During the construction of the conservatory a time capsule was buried containing the seeds of basic crops and endangered plant species and key publications on conservation.[21]
Within the conservation area is a cottage that was given to Queen Charlotte as a wedding present on her marriage to George III. It has been restored by Historic Royal Palaces and is separately administered by them.
It is open to the public on the May Day and August bank holidays and at weekends during July and August.
A rhizotron opened at the same time as the "treetop walkway" giving visitors the opportunity to investigate what happens beneath the ground where trees grow. The rhizotron is essentially a single gallery containing a set of large bronze abstract castings which contain LCD screens that carry repeating loops of information about the life of trees.
The Sackler Crossing bridge made of granite and bronze opened in May 2006. Designed by Buro Happold and John Pawson, it crosses the lake and is named in honour of philanthropists Dr Mortimer and Theresa Sackler.
The minimalist styled bridge is designed as a sweeping double curve of black granite and the sides are formed of bronze posts that give the impression, from certain angles, of forming a solid wall whereas from others, and to those on the bridge, they are clearly individual entities that allow a view of the water beyond.
It forms part of a path designed to encourage visitors to visit more of the gardens than had hitherto been popular and connect the two art galleries, via the temperate and evolution houses and the woodland glade, to the Minka House and bamboo garden.
The crossing won a special award from the Royal Institute of British Architects in 2008.
The Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanic Art opened in April 2008, and holds paintings from Kew's and Dr Shirley Sherwood's collections, many of which had never been displayed to the public before. It features paintings by artists such as Georg D. Ehret, the Bauer brothers, Pierre-Joseph Redouté and Walter Hood Fitch. The paintings and drawings are cycled on a six monthly basis. The gallery is linked to the Marianne North Gallery (see above).
This greenhouse has twice the floor area of the Palm House and is the world's largest surviving Victorian glass structure. It contains plants and trees from all the temperate regions of the world. It was commissioned in 1859 and designed by architect Decimus Burton and ironfounder Richard Turner. Covering 4880 square metres, it rises to a height of 19 metres. Intended to accommodate Kew's expanding collection of hardy and temperate plants, it took forty years to construct, during which time costs soared.
There is a viewing gallery in the central section from which visitors may look down on that part of the collection.
A new treetop walkway[22] opened on 24 May 2008. This walkway is 18 metres (59 ft) high and 200 metres (660 ft) long and takes visitors into the tree canopy of a woodland glade. Visitors can ascend and descend by stairs. The floor of the walkway is made from perforated metal and flexes as it is walked upon. The entire structure sways in the wind.
The image to the left shows a section of the walkway and the steel supports that were designed to rust to a tree-like appearance to help the walkway fit in with its surroundings.
There is a short film detailing the construction of the walkway available online.[23]
Kew Explorer is a service that takes a circular route around the gardens, provided by two 72-seater road trains that are fueled by Calor Gas to minimise pollution. A commentary is provided by the driver and there are several stops.
A map of the gardens is available at Map of Kew Gardens
The Waterlily House is the hottest and most humid of the houses at Kew and contains a large pond with varieties of waterlily, surrounded by a display of economically important heat-loving plants. It closes during the winter months.
The Aquatic Garden
Situated near the Jodrell laboratory, the Aquatic Garden, which celebrated its centenary in 2009, provides conditions for aquatic and marginal plants. The large central pool holds a selection of summer-flowering waterlilies whilst the corner pools contain plants such as reed mace, bulrushes, phragmites and smaller floating aquatic species.
The Arboretum
The arboretum at Kew covers over half of the total area of the site and contains over 14,000 trees of many thousands of varieties.
The Cacti collection
This is housed in and around the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
The Carnivorous Plant collection
This is housed in the Princess of Wales Conservatory.
The Grass Garden
Created on its current site in the early 1980s to display ornamental and economic grasses the Grass Garden was redesigned and replanted between 1994 and 1997. It is currently undergoing a further redesign and planting. Over 580 species of grasses are displayed.
The Herbaceous Grounds (Order Beds)
The Order Beds were devised in the late 1860s by Sir Joseph Hooker, then director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, so that botany students could learn to recognise plants and experience at first hand the diversity of the plant kingdom. The collection is organised into family groups. Its name arose because plant families were known as natural orders in the 19th century. Over the main path is a rose pergola built in 1959 to mark the bicentennial of the Gardens. It supports climber and rambling roses selected for the length and profusion of flowering.
The Orchid collection
The orchid collection is housed in two climate zones within the Princess of Wales Conservatory. To maintain an interesting display the plants are changed regularly so that those on view are generally flowering.
The Rock Garden
Originally built of limestone in 1882, it is now constructed of Sussex sandstone from West Hoathly, Sussex. The rock garden is divided into six geographic regions: Europe, Mediterranean and Africa, Australia and New Zealand, Asia, North America, and South America.There are currently 2,480 different 'accessions' growing in the garden.
The Rose Garden
The Rose Garden, based upon original designs by William Nesfield, is behind the Palm House, and was replanted between 2009 and 2010 using the original design from 1848. It is intended as an ornamental display rather than a collection of a particularly large number of varieties.
Other collections
Other collections and specialist areas include the bonsai collection, the rhododendron dell, the azalea garden, the bamboo garden, the juniper collection, the berberis dell, the lilac garden, the magnolia collection, and the fern collection.
The Plant List is an Internet encyclopedia project to compile a comprehensive list of botanical nomenclature,[24] created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and the Missouri Botanical Garden.[25] The Plant List has 1,040,426 scientific plant names of species rank of which 298,900 are accepted species names. In addition, the list has 620 plant families and 16,167 plant genera.[26]
The world's smallest water lily, Nymphaea thermarum, was saved from extinction when it was grown from seed at Kew, in 2009.[27][28]
There have been three series of A Year at Kew filmed in the gardens for BBC television. These have been released on DVD, including a box set of all three series.
In 2009 the BBC broadcast Cruickshank on Kew: The Garden That Changed the World, a history of the relationship between Kew Gardens and the British Empire.[29]
Public transport
The nearest combined rail and London Underground station is Kew Gardens (District Line and London Overground) to the east of the gardens. To the north, Kew Bridge railway station is about 10–15 minutes from the main entrance, with trains to Clapham Junction and Waterloo. The two bus routes suitable for the gardens are 65 and 391.
Cycle and Car
There are cycle racks located just inside the Victoria Gate, Main Gate and Brentford Gate entrances to the park. For those arriving by car there is a 300-space car park outside Brentford Gate.[30]