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

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.

1 comment on 'Main Gate'

Terry says

08/02/2010 12:00:00 AM | Report abuse

This particular site was so incredible that it made my entire day, I couldn't even go in, I was so overcome by the beauty of it and I knew that nothing else in the Gardens could possibly compare.

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Events at Kew

Featured Events and Attractions:
Watering bromeliads in the Tropical Nursery

Walks and tours - Tropical Nursery tour

Part of Tropical Extravaganza 2012 festival

Sat 04 February - Sat 03 March 2012, 1.30pm, 2pm and 2.30pm

Saturdays only
Go behind the scenes with Kew’s expert guides on a fascinating tour of the Tropical Nursery.

Horticulturist pruning orchids at Kew Gardens

Course - Orchids for beginners

Part of Tropical Extravaganza

Thu 16 February 2012, 10.30am - 3.30pm

This one day course aims to give you the knowledge and confidence to be able to grow orchids successfully in your own home.