Botanical Garden Richmond

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

A UNESCO World Heritage Site and one of the most important botanical institutions on Earth. 300 acres of gardens, glasshouses, and living collections — just 7 miles north of Kingston.

At a Glance

Size

300 acres

Founded

1759

Heritage

UNESCO World Heritage Site (2003)

Entry

Paid Entry

From Kingston

7 miles north

Best Seasons

Spring, Summer, Autumn, Winter

Visit Here If...

...you want to walk through Victorian palm houses, stand beneath the world's largest surviving glass structure, and explore 300 acres of globally significant botanical science

A Global Institution, Seven Miles from Kingston

Kew Gardens was inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage List in July 2003, under three cultural criteria — recognising its contribution to botanical science, its role in advancing ecology, and the significance of its landscape design by Charles Bridgeman, William Kent, and Lancelot “Capability” Brown.

Those aren’t honorary nods. Kew holds approximately 8.5 million preserved plant and fungal specimens in its herbarium — representing around 95% of all vascular plant genera on Earth. The Millennium Seed Bank at Wakehurst stores over 2.5 billion seeds from more than 40,000 species across 190 countries. This is, by any measure, one of the most important scientific institutions in the world.

But you don’t need to know any of that to feel it. Walk into the Palm House on a winter morning and the humidity hits you like a wall — banana plants, cycads, and cocoa trees thriving in conditions that mirror equatorial forest, all enclosed in curving Victorian ironwork that was, in 1848, the first large-scale structural use of wrought iron in architecture.

The History

The story begins in the 1720s, when George II and Queen Caroline took Richmond Lodge as their summer residence. Their son Frederick, Prince of Wales, developed a passion for botany and began collecting exotic plants. After Frederick’s death in 1751, his widow Princess Augusta of Saxe-Gotha-Altenburg continued the work, and in 1759 she formally founded a nine-acre botanic garden — appointing William Aiton as head gardener. By 1768, the collection had grown to over 2,700 species.

The decisive figure was Sir Joseph Banks, appointed informal director by George III in 1773. Banks dispatched botanists across the globe to gather specimens, served simultaneously as President of the Royal Society for 41 years, and transformed Kew from a royal garden into the pre-eminent botanical institution in the world. As Country Life put it, “no one before or after Banks has had such influence in the sphere of botany.”

What to See

The Palm House (1844–1848)

Designed by Decimus Burton and engineered by Richard Turner, the Palm House was the first building to use Kennedy & Vernon’s newly patented rolled wrought iron I-beams, originally designed for ship decks. The builders borrowed techniques from the shipbuilding industry — which is why the Palm House looks like the upturned hull of a ship. Inside: tropical rainforest plants in carefully controlled humidity.

The Temperate House

Also by Burton. Twice the size of the Palm House, 60 feet high, with underfloor heating and drainpipes concealed inside the pillars. Completed in phases between 1862 and 1899, it remains the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world. Reopened in 2018 after a five-year restoration, housing 10,000 plants from temperate regions — some critically endangered.

The Great Pagoda

Built in 1762 by Sir William Chambers for Princess Augusta. Ten storeys, 163 feet tall, 253 steps, inspired by the Porcelain Pagoda at Nanjing. The original 80 gilded wooden dragons were removed by 1784 — restored and returned in the 2018 reopening.

Treetop Walkway

Designed by Marks Barfield Architects (the team behind the London Eye). Opened in 2008, 18 metres high, 200 metres long, looping through beech, sweet chestnut, and oak canopy. Below it, the Rhizotron — the UK’s only walk-in viewing area illustrating tree root biology. Free with entry.

Princess of Wales Conservatory

Ten climate zones under a single roof — from mangrove swamp to bone-dry cactus desert. This is where the annual Orchid Festival takes place.

The Hive

A 55-foot aluminium structure by Wolfgang Buttress, originally created for the UK Pavilion at the 2015 Milan Expo. 170,000 aluminium parts and 1,000 LED lights that glow in response to real-time vibrations from actual bees in the garden. The soundtrack is composed to a live feed of beehive sounds in the key of C.

2026 Highlights

Event	Dates
Orchids: China (30th anniversary)	7 Feb – 8 Mar
Henry Moore: Monumental Nature	From 9 May
Christmas at Kew	Nov 2026 – Jan 2027

The Henry Moore exhibition places 30 monumental sculptures across the gardens — the most comprehensive Moore show in a generation. Worth timing a visit around.