Queen's Garden

The Queen's Garden is a charming 17th century style garden situated behind the Dutch House (Kew Palace)

Queens Garden

Queen's Garden

Historical information

The Queen's Garden was conceived in 1959 by Sir George Taylor, then Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, and officially opened by H.M. Queen Elizabeth II ten years later. The design involved the recreation of arcades and steps associated with the Dutch House. It also contains several pieces of sculpture including a marble satyr, a venetian well head and five 18th century terms, commissioned by HRH Frederick, Prince of Wales in 1734/5 and considered to be the oldest pieces of sculpture remaining at Kew.

There is also a wrought iron pillar from Hampton Court Palace and a gazebo on a mound.  One element is a parterre enclosed in box hedges and standing in the pond in the centre of the parterre is a copy of Verocchio's 'Boy with a Dolphin', the original of which is in Florence's Palazzo Vecchio.

Interpretation

The plants in the Queen's Garden are exclusively those grown in Britain before and during the 17th century. Their labelling differs from Kew's norm, since they include not only today's botanical name and family, but also:-

  • the common name in the 17th century
  • a virtue, or quotation from a herbal (plant book)
  • the author's name and date of publication

Back to.....Back to: Riverside Zone

No comments on 'Queen's Garden'

Related Tags

  1. english garden
  2. interesting
  3. active
  4. english heritage
  5. historical
  6. innovative
  7. inspiring
  8. around the world
  9. for kids
  10. beautiful
  11. royal
  12. amazing
  13. landscapes
  14. creative
  15. popular
  16. exotic
  17. imaginative
  18. romantic
  19. ancient
  20. fun
  21. wet
  22. rare
  23. high up
  24. hot
 

Your Kew

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.