6 April 2016
Kew connections: Chatsworth and Kew
Archivist Louise delves into the historic connections between Kew and Chatsworth.
New surroundings
My name is Louise Clarke and I have recently joined the LAA team as Assistant Archivist, coming from the role of Cataloguing Archivist at Chatsworth House, the Derbyshire seat of the Duke of Devonshire.
When changing jobs it’s always nice to have something familiar to ground yourself and I certainly have found that at Kew Gardens, with many connections between Kew Gardens and Chatsworth House appearing through the documents in the archive collection at Kew.
Capability Brown
This year marks the 300th year of the birth of Capability Brown and it is Brown who is the first link between Kew and Chatsworth. Brown transformed the gardens at Chatsworth in 1760 and, following his appointment as Master Gardener at Hampton Court in 1764, he was commissioned by George III to relandscape Richmond Gardens. Although very little survives in the archive from Brown’s time at Kew, we do hold Brown’s plan for relandscaping Richmond Gardens and a small but interesting number of records relating to Brown’s foreman, Michael Milliken who Brown actually recruited from Chatsworth.
Victoria regia
Before starting at Kew I was already aware of a few connections between the two institutions, including the amazing story of Joseph Paxton, the 6th Duke of Devonshire’s head gardener, bringing to life the lily Victoria regia, a great fete considering Kew failed to get their stock to flower. However, it is not until you see the letters describing these events that they are really brought to life. In a letter from Paxton to William Hooker on 11 November 1849, Paxton effuses: “I hope you will come and see it, most likely your plants are showing by this time, if not, the delight of our plant is worth a journey of a thousand miles [we] have leaves nearly five feet in diameter and at this time there are thirteen leaves upon the plant.” (DC/28/151).
Architecture
Part of my role involves answering a wide variety of enquiries from members of the public, academics and staff and these enquiries have already given me further links back to Chatsworth. Architecture is a popular research topic and it is through Decimus Burton, the architect for both the Palm House at Kew and the Great Conservatory that once stood in the gardens at Chatsworth (now the site of the maze), that another link appears. In the archive collection at Kew we hold some of Burton’s original plans for the Palm House, including ones showing the Tunnels designed to transport fuel and carry smoke ducts. Today at Chatsworth you can still walk through one of these fascinating tunnels and wonder at the ingenuity of the Victorians.
Kew Connections
Through the documents held in the archives of Kew and Chatsworth we can not only discover more about each individual institution but we can also create a picture of the relationship between both institutions and the personalities that were governing and working for them. The archive at Kew is an amazing resource and there are hundreds of connections between Kew, individuals and institutions that are waiting to be unearthed from within the collection.
- Louise Clarke -
Assistant Archivist
Further reading
Ray Desmond, The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew. (Kew Publishing, 2nd ed. 2007)
