Top Facts about Kew Gardens

By Suz Pathmanathan
Published: July 17, 2024
Kew Gardens

Founded in 1840, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, commonly known as Kew Gardens, is one of the most extensive and important botanical gardens in the world.

It's a stunning sanctuary less than 30 minutes from central London, offering a perfect escape from the city buzz. Housing the "largest and most diverse botanical and mycological collections" globally, this UNESCO World Heritage Site is also one of London's most popular attractions.

Kew Gardens has more than 50,000 different plants in its living collection and over 7 million preserved specimens. It's not just a pretty space; it's a veritable treasure trove of plant-based knowledge, with over 750,000 volumes and illustrations contained in its library.

Discover more about this historical botanical landmark with some of our favourite facts about Kew Gardens below.

Kew Gardens

A stroll through time

A little tidbit on the history of Kew Gardens: It's been around for quite a while! Its growth and development over the years have made it one of the most famous gardens in London and indeed, the world.

1. The world's oldest potted plant resides at Kew

Housed inside the famous Palm House, the world's oldest pot plant, a huge Jurassic cycad (Encephalartos altensteinii) originally came to Kew in 1775. Plant-hunter, Frances Masson, collected the specimen during one of Captain Cook's voyages from the Eastern Cape of South Africa.

2. It's home to the smallest royal palace in the country

After a decade-long restoration project, the Grade I listed Kew Palace was reopened in 2006. The smallest of British royal residences, it was a popular getaway of George III (1760 - 1820). The same size as a small manor house, the palace was gifted to the people by Queen Victoria in 1837. So, Kew Gardens is not just one of the best gardens in London, but also a royal one.

Palace at Kew Gardens

3. It has its own police force

For over 150 years, Kew Gardens has had its own police force responsible for on-site security. Established in the mid-1840s, it initially consisted of part-time gardeners and veterans from the Crimean War.

The Kew Constabulary originally possessed the same powers as the Metropolitan Police. This meant they were permitted to exercise their force in most London parks, including Battersea Park and Parliament Square. As of 2022, the Kew Constabulary has 20 members of staff and one vehicle, making it one of the smallest police forces in the world. 

4. Suffragettes burned the Tea House down

On 20 February 1913, Suffragettes Lilian Lenton and Olive Wharry burned down the Tea House at Kew Gardens in one of several arson attacks in the capital. After being caught, they were sentenced to 18 months at Holloway prison.

During their incarceration, they both went on hunger strike. They ended up being released within a month.

Kew Gardens greenhouse

5. The tube station has its own pub

Getting to Kew Botanical Gardens is even more fun knowing that Kew Gardens station has its very own pub! Previously called The Railway, The Tap on the Line pub reopened in 2013. There is still a door near the bar that leads directly to platform one, but it's no longer open to the public.

6. It includes part of the old London Bridge

In 1968, the American entrepreneur Robert P. McCulloch bought the 19th-century London Bridge and attempted to move it to Arizona’s Lake Havasu. He thought he was buying Tower Bridge, but alas, no.

Around 200 granite blocks didn't make the trip across the Atlantic. Four of those blocks were taken by Kew Gardens and placed on the banks of the big lake near the Sackler Crossing.

Consider adding the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew to your itinerary during your trip with The London Pass®. You'll make great savings on combined admission vs. paying at the gate, and your pass includes entry to dozens more top attractions in the city!

Kew Garden view from above

7. Commemorative coins

Kew Gardens celebrated its 250th anniversary in 2009 and to commemorate this event, the Royal Mint released a commemorative 50p coin. Only 210,000 Kew coins were minted. This resulted in them soaring in value, selling for over 100 times their monetary worth.

8. Climate control

Discover 10 different climate zones at the Princess of Wales Conservatory. From the dry tropics and wet tropics to eight smaller micro-climates, the conservatory ensures that each set of plants' needs are met.

Kew Garden inside

9. Rare heist

In 1987, the world's smallest water lily (Nymphaea thermarum) was discovered in Mashyuza, Rwanda. Conservationists saved the plant from extinction after it was grown from seeds at Kew Gardens. In 2014, one of these rare water lilies was stolen from the Princess of Wales Conservatory.

10. An explosive history

During the Second World War, the Great Pagoda became the perfect place to test the aerodynamics of bombs in secret. Around 30 high-explosives dropped onto the gardens during the Blitz and the Herbarium, Temperate Houses, Palm House and Waterlily House suffered damage.

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Suz Pathmanathan
London Travel Expert

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Most Popular Tourist Attractions in London - Top 10

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Stuart Bak
Tourist on Westminster Bridge by Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament.
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How to get Cheap London Attraction Ticket Deals

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that London is not a cheap place to visit. Indeed, it’s regularly cited alongside the likes of Hong Kong, New York, Singapore and Sydney as one of the most expensive cities in the world. That’s largely due to its well-deserved reputation as one of the planet's top bucket-list destinations, with household-name attractions like Westminster Abbey, The Shard, Oxford Street, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Tower of London around almost every corner. And, as surely as night follows day, high demand means high prices. But London isn't just for lottery winners, celebrities and Russian oligarchs. No! This vast playground of historical attractions, world-class museums, stellar theatrical performances, and destination dining is for everyone to enjoy. And it is possible for savvy travelers to visit on a shoestring, as detailed in our self-explanatory blog ‘How to Visit London on a Budget’ right here. 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Tickets for these are cheap and are generally released between 9AM and 11AM for same-day performances, so you’ll need to be flexible and yes, for the more popular shows, you’ll definitely have to queue and may still end up disappointed. Some shows also run lotteries via their website or app. This is much the same as the day-seat option, but means you can avoid schlepping to the venue and do it all from the comfort of your armchair. Winners are chosen at random. You can also get last-minute bargains from the tkts booth on Leicester Square, again for shows that same evening. If you can afford to be really flexible about your plans, it’s also well worth taking a gamble on ultra-last-minute cheapies direct from the theaters. And by ultra-last-minute we mean, like, an hour before the performance begins. The Royal Court does 10p tickets. Yes, that’s just ten new pence. These are standing only but hey, that’s a small price to pay, right? 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Stuart Bak
Group of friends drinking pints of beer in a London pub.
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How to Visit London on a Budget

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You’ll be hard-pushed to find anything but the most basic hotel room in central London for under £100 a night. And there’s no way in a zillion years you’re going to be staying at The Ritz. The key here is to focus your accommodation search outside London’s zones 1 and 2. Zones 3–6 are still well-connected, but obviously the further you get from the center of town, the more palatable the prices. Find somewhere with a Tube station nearby to keep you within reach of the main attractions and you’re sorted. You’ll find deals that won’t break the bank in the likes of Stratford, Hammersmith (pictured below), Islington and even King’s Cross. Budget hotel chains like Travelodge, Ibis and Premier Inn also help keeps cost down and, if you don’t mind sharing, hostel chains including Safestay and St Christopher’s Inns have properties in convenient locations including Greenwich, Holland Park, Camden and London Bridge. Airbnb can also be a good money-saving option, especially if you’re traveling in a group. Again, aim for the suburbs for the best bargains Getting Around London on the Cheap London’s iconic black hackney cabs are great for #humblebrag vacation selfies, but bad bad bad for the bank balance! Instead, stick to public transport. A one-day travelcard covering unlimited tube and bus travel within zones 1-3 costs less than £10. You can tap in and out of public transport to your heart’s content using your bank card, safe in the knowledge that you’ll never exceed that daily cap. If you must take a cab, apps like Uber provide cheaper alternatives to black hackneys, especially for longer trips. Walking London can be fun, too. Yes, it’s huge, but a lot of the major attractions are within a short distance of one another. For example: you could stroll from Westminster Abbey to Leicester Square, taking in Big Ben, 10 Downing Street and Trafalgar Square along the way, in around 30 minutes. Just grab a map, plan your route and off you go! Free and Discounted London Attraction Tickets Budget-conscious travelers with even a passing interest in art and history will be in clover in London, where a huge number of museums and galleries are absolutely gratis to enter. And not just any old museums and galleries either. We’re talking the likes of the National Gallery, a celebration of European art through the ages, from da Vinci to Turner. Then there’s the mighty Tate Modern, that IG-tastic former power station that houses crucial works by Pollock, Picasso, Rothko, Klee, Warhol, Lichtenstein, Monet and more. Also free is the mighty British Museum, only the largest collection of historical artifacts on the planet (eight million-ish, in case you were wondering), including the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles, and an Easter Island statue. Meanwhile Kensington’s neighboring Natural History and Science museums are the kinds of places kids and adults alike can lose themselves in for hours at a time – and it’s all fantastically, unbelievably free! There are further savings to be made with the London Pass. If you’re planning to visit a number of bucket-list landmarks and take a tour or two, this could be very much the option for you. Holders of the pass can access as many attractions as they like for up to 10 consecutive days, including major hitters like Westminster Abbey, the Tower of London, The View from The Shard, London Zoo, the Cutty Sark and Kew Gardens. It also includes hop-on hop-off bus tickets, football stadium tours, canal cruises and much more. You can save up to 50% compared to what you’d spend on the door. An absolute boon for budget travelers, in other words. Find out more about it and get yours here. It almost goes without saying – but is worth pointing out anyway – that strolls around London’s most Instagrammable neighborhoods will also cost you absolutely nada. We’re talking Portobello Road with its candy-colored houses and lively bric-a-brac stalls; atmospheric Whitechapel and Brick Lane, the picturesque village vibes of pretty Greenwich, and the embarrassment of riches that is the Thames’s South Bank. Wander from bustling Borough Market to the London Eye for a visual feast that takes in soaring Southwark Cathedral, painstakingly replicas of Sir Francis Drake’s Golden Hinde galleon ship and Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre, the Tate Modern, and stunning cross-river views of St Paul’s Cathedral. London’s Cheapest Eats If you’re visiting London on a budget, you’ll definitely want to familiarize yourself with the nicest and cheapest ways to eat. Dodge the fast food chains and give tourist traps around Covent Garden and Leicester Square as wide a berth as possible. With the exception, that is, of Chinatown, where you can still bag a satisfying bowl of noodles or fried rice for less than the cost of a London pint. Eating early or late is also a good trick. Pre-theater set menus available between around 5PM and 7PM offer genuinely good value in the heart of town, while apps like Too Good To Go are worth checking out for end-of-night bargain bites, when unsold restaurant meals are turned into pocket-friendly takeaways to avoid having to throw them away. It’s also worth checking out voucher sites like Groupon and Wowcher for discounted dining experiences in London pubs and restaurants. London’s street food is also second to none and – while perhaps not exactly cheap by international standards – means you can have a filling meal on the move for waaay less than the cost of a sit-down London pub or restaurant dinner. Hit up Brick Lane for some of the best falafel and bagels in town. The only danger in this East End foodie mecca is that you’ll be tempted into emptying your wallet at one of the many inviting Bangladeshi restaurants or vintage boutiques that line the street. Then there’s the sensory saturnalia that is Borough Market by London Bridge station. Here, beneath the atmospheric railway arches lies a whole world of gourmet treats. Think delectable duck confit sandwiches, farm-fresh pork burgers, halloumi salads, regional cheeses, giant cream-filled donuts, craft ales, freshly brewed specialty coffee and, well, pretty much anything else you can think of. Yum! Save on things to do in London Save on admission to London attractions with the London Pass. Check out @londonpass on Instagram for the latest top tips and attraction info.
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Stuart Bak
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