Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, (also known as Kew Gardens), Greater London, England

The following is from the English Heritage Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest: 

A botanic garden established in the early 18th century and increased in size under Sir William Hooker in the mid 19th century. The gardenss were set within a royal park and remodelled periodically by leading designers.

NOTE

This entry is a summary. Because of the complexity of this site, the standard Register entry format would convey neither an adequate description nor a satisfactory account of the development of the landscape. The user is advised to consult the references given below for more detailed accounts. Many Listed Buildings exist within the site, not all of which have been here referred to. Descriptions of these are to be found in the List of Buildings of Special Architectural or Historic Interest produced by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.

LOCATION, AREA, BOUNDARIES, LANDFORM SETTING

The Royal Botanic Gardens are located in outer south-west London on the south bank of the River Thames about 500 metres south west of Kew Bridge. Richmond Park lies about 1 kilometre to the south-east with the town of Richmond on the south-east boundary of the Old Deer Park. To the east lies the dense residential development of North Sheen. The River Thames provides the boundary to the west and Kew Green to the north. To the east the grounds are bounded by Kew Road and to the south-east by the railway line.

The Old Deer Park (139 hectares) is separated from the Botanic Gardens (128 hectares) by the 18th century ha-ha. The fairly level ground of the Old Deer Park is screened from the river by thick boundary plantings.

REFERENCES used by English Heritage:

Note: There is a wealth of published material about this site. The key references are listed below.

B Cherry and N Pevsner, The Buildings of England: London 2 South (1983), pp 506-512

R King, Royal Kew (1985)

The Old Deer Park, Richmond, report produced by the Old Deer Park Action Group and The Friends of Old Deer Park, (1990) [copy on EH file]

Maps

Richmond and Kew, Works 32/99, 1637 (PRO) [copy on EH file]

J Rocque, Plan of the Cities of London and Westminster and Borough of Southwark and the country near ten miles around, surveyed 1741-1745, published 1746

R Greening, Richmond Lodge Estate and Kew, 1748 (London Metropolitan Archives)

OS 60" to 1 mile: 1st edition published 1864

2nd edition published 1897