Arts Society Newbury lecture: Cindy Polemis The History of Kew Gardens: The World’s Gardener
at Newbury Rugby Club on April 21
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When Princess Caroline and Princess Augusta decided in the 18th Century that what British Royalty needed was a garden designed on the philosophy of the Enlightenment, it’s unlikely that they envisaged the need for a bomb-proof seed bunker.
But they did see Kew Garden (singular correct) as a home for both aesthetic enjoyment and scientific research, containing all the plants then known, and designed to give the appearance of a natural landscape – an English Arcadia.
So from 1759 Kew – which became plural in 1772 with the addition of Richmond Garden – has developed and grown to reflect the concerns and culture of the times, Cindy Polemis told the Arts Society Newbury.
The vast range of plants from around the world in the 18th Century, she pointed out, were the embodiment of British power overseas, as collectors brought home the riches of other countries. By the 19th Century the focus was on keeping plants alive and the technology of glass and steel brought the Temperate House, a window into the British Empire.
The gardens opened to the public in 1840 as the social rigidities if the Georgian era blurred around the edges.
Even the grass reflected changing times. In the 18th Century it was cut by livestock, in the 19th the lawns were groomed by newly-developed industrial equipment. And of course the look of the gardens has changed to reflect the cultural developments of the times, from the winding paths and Romantic grottoes, lakes and follies of Enlightenment – so different to the formalism of the Continental thought – through the wide vistas of Victorian optimism to the modern bombproof bunker representing 25 per cent of plant species, held, said Ms Polemis as “the world bank for future survival of the planet”.
“Kew really is the world’s gardener” she said. “helping to save precious flora, trees and fungi. It’s also“ she added “a wonderful place for a picnic”.
Next lecture: The Echoing Scream: The Birth of Expressionism on May 19, at Newbury Rugby club. Details theartssocietynewbury.org.uk part of Newbury Spring Festival
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