Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
the one in Kyoto and a legacy of the 1910 Japan-British Exhibition, built in cedar
wood and topped by a copper roof.
North of the pagoda, you can walk through Chambers'
Ruined Arch
, purpose-built
with sundry pieces of Roman masonry strewn about as if tossed there by barbarian
hordes. Chambers is also responsible for the classical temples, the most picturesque
being the
Temple of Aeolus
, situated on one of Kew's few hillocks near Cumberland
Gate, surrounded in spring by a carpet of bluebells and daffodils.
Capability Brown's horticultural work has proved more durable than Chambers': his
lake remains a focal point of the Syon vista from the Palm House, and the hidden
Rhododendron Dell
he devised survives to the south of it. More recent nearby additions
include the
Bamboo Garden
, laid out in 1891, and the
Minka House
, a thatched
wooden farmhouse built in the suburbs of Okazaki in Japan, and transferred here in
2001. Even more recent is the
Treetop Walkway
, in the centre of the gardens - not a
thing of beauty in itself, but the views are good and it's quite novel to be 60ft in the air
among the tree canopy.
22
Queen Charlotte's Cottage
April-Sept Sat & Sun 10am-4pm • Free
The thickly wooded, southwestern section of Kew Gardens is the bit to head for if you
want to lose the crowds, few of whom ever make it to
Queen Charlotte's Cottage
, a
fairly substantial thatched summerhouse built in brick and timber in the 1770s as a
royal picnic spot for George III's wife. The cottage was adjacent to a mini royal
menagerie, which featured England's first kangaroos and the now extinct, zebra-like,
quagga. Today, there's very little to see inside, beyond a room of Hogarth prints and a
trompe-l'oeil pergola (possibly painted by one of the Queen's daughters), but the
surrounding native woodland is very peaceful and carpeted with bluebells in spring.
The museum and art galleries
Kew's
Museum No. 1
, designed by Decimus Burton across the Pond from the Palm House
(and now called
Plants and People
), provides an excellent wet-weather retreat. Inside, an
exhibition shows the myriad uses to which humans have put plants, from food and
medicines to clothes and tools. Along with the usual static glass-case displays, there are
also touch-screen computers to hand, a scent station and various hands-on exhibits which
should keep younger visitors happy. There's also a great 1886 model of an Indian indigo
factory, with over one hundred clay figures and one colonial overseer in a pith helmet.
Kew also boasts three art galleries. To the south of Victoria Gate is the
Shirley
Sherwood
Gallery of Botanical Art
, a modern space that displays the most exquisitely
executed botanical art from the last three centuries. Next door stands the resolutely
old-fashioned
Marianne North Gallery
, purpose-built in 1882 to house the prolific
output of the self-trained artist Marianne North. Over eight hundred paintings,
completed in fourteen years of hectic world travel, are displayed end to end, filling
every single space in the gallery. Finally,
Kew Gardens Gallery
, the largest of the lot, in
Cambridge Cottage, in the northeastern corner of the gardens, puts on temporary
exhibitions often on more general botanical themes.
Kew Palace
April-Sept daily 9.30am-5.30pm • Free •
T
020 8332 5655,
W
hrp.org.uk
In the north of the gardens stands the country's smallest royal residence,
Kew Palace
,
a
three-storey red-brick mansion measuring a mere 70ft by 50ft, and commonly known
as the “Dutch House”, after its fancy Flemish-bond brickwork and its curly Dutch
gables. It's the smallest (and sole survivor) of Kew's three former royal residences and
was bought from a City merchant by George II as a nursery and schoolhouse for his
umpteen children.
FROM TOP
RICHMOND RIVERSIDE
P.342
; KEW GARDENS
P.337
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