Main Gate
Kew’s Main Gate stands beside Kew Green on the northern edge of the gardens. It is now a Grade II Listed building.
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Main Gate
Did you know?
- in its first year of opening, around 9,000 people passed through Burton’s gate
- today, a million people visit Kew every year, a third of them entering through the Main Gate
Historical information
Kew's Main Gate was completed to Decimus Burton’s designs in 1846. Fashioned in Jacobean-style ironwork and supported by carved Portland stone pillars, it comprises a double central gate (designed to be wide enough for carriages) and side openings for pedestrians.
In Kew’s early days, visitors had entered the Botanic Garden via a small wooden door in the arboretum wall which stretched from the last house on the south side of Kew Green to the stables standing east of Kew Palace. A separate gate admitted visitors to part of the Gardens known at the time as the Pleasure Grounds.
In 1825, King George IV had erected a gate and railings on Kew Green flanked by two lodges, topped with a lion and unicorn apiece, “separating the royal domains from the intrusion of vulgar curiosity”. The new gate blocked off the existing visitor entrances to Kew, so the king opened “three small doorways” through which the public could enter.
After Sir William Hooker became Kew’s director in 1841 he decided the Gardens deserved a grander public entrance and commissioned Burton to design the existing Main Gate. The resulting construction, with its royal coat of arms and floral motifs were more fitting for a Garden in the throes of becoming an important national botanical institution.
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Japanese Gateway and landscape
byLesley 54
We invite photographers to capture the sights at Kew and Wakehurst. These images are a selection of images submitted by photographers from around the world. We hope you enjoy them. You can see more on Flickr.
Events at Kew Gardens
Featured Events and Attractions:North American Landscape - Kew at the British Museum
Thu 10 May - Fri 25 May 2012
Don’t miss this unique chance to hear from David Nash as he talks about his life and work and the things that have inspired his creativity – from running tables and boulders to the wood of trees brought down by storms, lightning or disease.
1 comment on ''
Tom Tomalin says
17/05/2012 4:44:41 PM | Report abuse
is the Victoria gate and kew gardend Ready for the Blue Blobbers on Sunday.