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The gardens at Kew are world famous and began as a 9 acre site laid out by George III's mother Princess Augusta in 1759. Given to the state in 1841 the gardens covered 300 acres by 1904, which is their present size. Famous landmarks are the Chinese Pagoda and the Palm House with plants from the tropics. Construction is under way for a Millennium Seed Bank to be completed in 2000. The Royal Botanic Gardens aims to collect seeds of all British flora by the end of the year 2000 and ten per cent of the world's flowering plants by the year 2010, 25,000 species in all. They will be stored in freezers inside the research and exhibition centre, near Haywards Heath. Visitors will watch scientists at work, descending in glassed lifts to the vaults protecting the seeds. The bank will make its stocks available for research into the potential medical and industrial properties of plants that are disappearing in the wild.
The nearest Tube station is Kew Gardens.
Located at: Kew Gardens, Kew Road, Kew,
London,
TW9
Telephone: 020 - 8940 1171
Opens: All year daily Garden: from 09.30 closing times vary according to season, from 16.00 in Winter up to 19.30 in Summer. Conservatories close earlier.
Cost: Adults GBP5.00, Conc GBP3.50, Child prices vary
Closest Subway Station: N/A
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