Garden · England · Still standing

Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew is a 132-hectare botanical garden in southwest London that combines living plant collections, research facilities and historic glasshouses. The site contains numerous Victorian-era iron-and-glass conservatories, formal lawns and parterres, and scientific collections managed by the Royal Botanic Gardens organisation. Kew is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and remains an active public garden and research institution.

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Photograph via Wikimedia Commons

Its prime

1890

Today

Still standing

As it stood in 1890

What Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew looked like in its prime.

A broad, multi-domed Victorian glasshouse complex of curved iron ribs and tall rectangular glass panes: a central domed pavilion with flanking barrel-vaulted wings, painted pale grey/green ironwork and continuous glazing. In front lie clipped lawns and formal parterres of geometric beds edged by low hedges and paths, punctuated by classical stone statues and wooden benches. Scale is expansive: the glazed volumes rise above the garden beds, reflecting sky and enclosing tall specimen plants within.

Step inside

6 places to explore in 1890.

The record describes 6 distinct spots at Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, including 2 interiors: interior under the central domed conservatory, long aisle within a barrel-vaulted wing. Create your own photoreal reconstruction and explore every one, more scenes means more photos, more angles and more of the immersive experience.

Exterior approach across the formal parterreClose view of flowerbeds and statuesArched glasshouse entrance and side aisleInterior under the central domed conservatoryLong aisle within a barrel-vaulted wingBenches and visitor terrace beside the glasshouse

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