Open House London - Go behind the scenes in Museum No. 2

Sat 17 September - Sun 18 September 2011

Kew is reopening Museum No. 2 (now the School of Horticulture) for the weekend, a building that has been closed to the public since 1960.

Museum No. 2 before its closure in 1960 (Image: RBG Kew)

Event details

Date: Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 September
Time: 10 am - 5 pm (last entry 4 pm)
Admission: Entrance to this behind the scenes event is FREE, but normal admission prices apply for further access to the Gardens
Entrance: Only via the Jodrell Laboratory Gate, Kew Road TW9 3DS. First come basis; queues are possible. Capacity 100 visitors/hour (how to find us)
Contact: ecbot@kew.org

Each year Open House London sees the opening for one weekend of hundreds of buildings that are usually closed to the public. In 2011 Kew is reopening Museum No. 2 for the weekend.

Originally George III’s fruit store, the building was converted by Decimus Burton into the world’s first Museum of Economic Botany [useful plants] in 1847. It is now used as Kew’s School of Horticulture, having been closed to the public in 1960. Although the museum collections are now housed elsewhere, the School retains evocative and intact museum interiors, and visitors will be encouraged to step back to the 19th century.

There will be a special display of artefacts and specimens collected by 19th century explorers in South America and the Caribbean, Africa and the Pacific.