Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

• Official Name: Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew
• Location: London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest Greater London, England
• Type: Cultural
• Year of Inscription: 2003

The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew in London, England, is a historic landscape garden that recalls a time when creating elaborate gardens and related structures such as greenhouses was an important pastime for royalty and people of means. Originally built in the 1700s as part of the summer home for the British royal family, the gardens introduced thousands of new plant species to the United Kingdom. They became a key part of the botanical, horticultural, ecological, economic, and artistic history of Great Britain and the world.

The over three-hundred-acre site incorporates forty-four historically significant buildings, including two large iron-framed greenhouses and multiple smaller ones, an orangery, pagodas and other buildings of architectural styles associated with parts of the world outside Great Britain, outdoor landscaped areas, ornamental ponds and plantings, and an herbarium. It has been recognized for having more than 50,000 plant species within its living plant collections, giving it the honor of having the most plant diversity within any single garden in the world. A number of plants within it have earned individual recognition for such qualities as being the largest or most smelly plant of their type in the world. The collection at the Kew Botanic Gardens also includes a seed bank, housed in Wakehurst in Sussex, with more than 2.4 billion seeds from nearly 40,000 species.

The diversity of the collection at Kew, along with its indoor plant habitats, allows visitors to view something unique about plant life there year-round. This diversity also makes the botanic gardens valuable for the study of plant life. It participates in research projects aimed at everything from conservation to making better-smelling and healthier personal care products such as shampoo. For its significant contribution to the botanical, horticultural, and ecological sciences as well as its role in England’s history, the site was inscribed as a United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site in 2003.

History

Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg (1719–1772), the mother of King George III of England (1738–1820), established the botanic gardens in 1759 as a nine-acre site at Kew, a district in the south London borough of Richmond Upon the Thames. It was expanded upon in 1762 with the construction of the Great Pagoda, a ten-story structure that featured eighty dragons of gilded and painted wood. Noted architect William Chambers (1723–1796) designed the structure as a gift for Princess Augusta. It is one of several Asian-themed buildings he designed for Kew Gardens.

Between 1768 and 1788, representatives from Kew traveled to various parts of the world, including the South Seas and South Africa, to collect seeds and plants for the gardens. These unique botanical finds were viewed only by the royals and their guests until 1840 when the Royal Botanic Gardens were opened to the public. The following year, botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker (1814–1879) devised a new way to transport exotic specimens to Kew. He used glazed glass boxes called Wardian cases to bring plants from the Falkland Islands to the gardens, greatly expanding the types of plants that could be brought to Kew and other botanic gardens.

As new plants were located and transported to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, work was ongoing on new facilities. The Palm House—the first large-scale greenhouse in the world and the first to be made of wrought iron—was finished in 1848. It is climate-controlled specifically to the growing needs of palms and includes an upper walkway that allows visitors to walk through the high palm branches and fronds. This was followed by the Herbarium in 1853; it has since undergone five additions and can hold more than seven million herb plants. Ten years later, the Temperate House was opened. Like the Palm House, it is a large-scale wrought iron greenhouse, but it is maintained at lower temperatures to meet the needs of different plants.

In 1876, scientific study at Kew entered a new phase with the construction of the Jodrell Laboratory. The earliest studies there were on plant pathology, or the study of plant diseases and how they grow and spread. In time, the work at the lab expanded to include studies of latex-producing plants. Within a century of its start, scientists working in labs at Kew would be studying plant DNA and the diversity of plant life.

Like nearly every aspect of Great Britain, the Royal Botanic Gardens were involved in the war effort during World War II (1939–1945). Through the Dig for Victory program, the gardens grew plants that could be used for food and medicine needed to help Britain through the war. When the war ended, scientists at the gardens continued their work studying plants and teaching others what they had learned through Kew’s diploma program in horticulture. They also created a plant seed bank; by 2007, the bank had successfully stored its one billionth seed.

In the early part of the twenty-first century, efforts were made to preserve and protect the forty-four structures and other features of the Royal Botanic Gardens. The Temperate House underwent a five-year restoration, while the Great Pagoda’s restoration included the installation of new wooden dragons. It is unclear what happened to the original dragons, but most experts believe that the wooden dragons simply succumbed to the forces of nature until they were removed.

Throughout its history, a number of other specialty garden areas and structures were added to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. These include a Mediterranean Garden, which showcases the plants of Southern Europe, such as olive and cypress trees and lavender, their economic importance, and conservation efforts. This garden, planted in 2007, encompasses King William’s Temple, an 1837 structure built for Queen Victoria (1819–1901) to honor her uncle and predecessor, King William IV (1765–1837). Queen Victoria also added the Natural Area, a thirty-seven-acre stretch of wild, untamed, and classic forest landscape that includes log walks and other features to allow up-close nature experiences.

Significance

The site is significant because the gardens reflect a long-term and ongoing process to protect and showcase plant life from around the world. They also reflect the interests and sensibilities of the gardens’ caretakers over four centuries. This includes the fascination with world travel that increased during the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, as seen in the Great Pagoda and Turkish Mosque structures, as well as the interest in grand, unique structures such as the large glass and iron greenhouses.

The gardens have been an important element of efforts to protect and preserve the many types of plants housed there, including many that are rare or exotic. Research done at Kew helps with ecology efforts around the world. In addition, companies that want to incorporate natural, healthy, and environmentally friendly plant-based ingredients in their products work with researchers at the Royal Botanic Gardens to help find the best plant resources for each use. The Kew Gardens also provide a great deal of educational opportunities for school groups and the public, providing a glimpse into the history of Great Britain as well as plant conservation efforts and plant life from around the world.

Sites that are selected for inclusion on the UNESCO World Heritage list must meet at least one of ten established criteria. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew met three of these criteria. One criterion requires the site to demonstrate the important interchange of human values over time and within a culture related to technology, landscape design, or another specified field. The plants and structures in the Kew Gardens represent the efforts to preserve and study botany for four centuries, while also representing key artistic aesthetics.

A second criterion is that the site should represent unique testimony to some aspect or cultural tradition of the civilization in which it was found. Work done at the Kew Gardens since the middle of the 1700s reflects strong interest in and contributions to several scientific fields. These include the study of botany and horticulture, along with ecology and the environment.

A third criterion relates to outstanding examples of architecture, technology, or landscaping that are representative of a period of time in a culture. The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew include numerous structures that were significant at the time of their construction and continue to have historical significance. The massive wrought iron structures supporting the Palm House and Temperate House were part of a new concept in design when they were built and are closely associated with that time period. They also reflect the work of several highly regarded architects and design experts of the time, including Chambers, who designed the iron structures, as well as Charles Bridgeman (1690–1738) and William Kent (1685–1748), who are credited with pioneering the concept of elaborately landscaped and appointed gardens such as those at Kew.

Bibliography

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