Pagoda Vista
The structure of the Kew Gardens we know today is due primarily
to the vision of Sir William Hooker, the first full-time Director;
Decimus Burton, the supervising architect; and William Nesfield,
the principal landscape designer.
When, in 1845, the gardens expanded to some 110 hectares (274 acres)
their grand plan shaped the great sweeps of planting and landscaping
and the iconic glasshouses so familiar and so admired today. Nesfield's
dramatic vistas are laid in a 'goose foot' pattern radiating from
the Palm House and are his indelible signature on today's Kew.
Pagoda Vista was a handsome grassed walk some 850 m (2,800 ft)
long. Nesfield's idea of being able to both see and walk to the
Pagoda along the centre line of Kew Gardens was in fact an inspired
return to the turn of the century landscape. The Pagoda was an existing
building, originally designed to be viewed over treetops from different
aspects. It influenced the siting of the yet-to-be-built Palm House,
because Nesfield's vision incorporated direct open views from one
to the other. This dramatic view was to complement Joseph Burton's
Broad Walk which would stretch from the Palm House to the Orangery
and Main Gate.
The Vista took many decades to construct as Nesfield's design demanded
strict pairings of trees down its length. It was intended to be
a double avenue, with broadleaf trees set in opposing pairs, flanked
on the outside by evergreen trees similarly paired. The external
lines of deodars were planted during the 1840s, with the inside
line for the broadleaved trees marked by smaller evergreens such
as thuja. Sixteen large trees were transplanted from other areas
of the Gardens in 1908 to complete the line, replacing the temporary
evergreens.
Nesfield's vistas demonstrated the importance of Burton's Palm
House to Kew and the impact of his grand plan remains to this day.
This is perfectly demonstrated by the fact that early in 2004, six
more trees were added to Pagoda Vista to replace those lost over
the years to storms and disease. They were semi-mature pairs of
three different species chosen for their monumental shapes and ability
to thrive at Kew; Turkish hazel, American sweet gum and American
pin oak.
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