The Victorian Palm House
by Connie Handscomb
Title
The Victorian Palm House
Artist
Connie Handscomb
Medium
Photograph - Photography - Fine Art
Description
We will not have failure - only success and new learning.
~ Queen Victoria
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Ref 1084 UNESCO World Heritage Site
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, southwest Greater London
This Victorian structure is called The Palm House. It is 363 feet long, 100 feet wide, and 66 feet high. It is the most important surviving Victorian iron and glass structure in the world, a specialized, giant greenhouse with 16,000 panes of glass. It is synonomous with, and located at, Kew Gardens, an UNESCO World Heritage Site (as of July 2003) famous for its botanical gardens (aka The Royal Botanic Gardens) of approximately 50,000 plants on its 326 acres.
The history of the botanical garden goes back to 1759. The Monarchy handed over the gardens to the public in 1841. The Palm House at Kew Gardens was designed by Decimus Burton, and constructed between 1844 and 1848. The engineer Richard Turner used shipbuilding techniques during its construction; thus its similarity to the upturned hull of a boat.
Upon its completion, it became home for the exotic palms from the Tropical Rainforest being collected in early Victorian times. The greenhouse is divided into the world areas the tropical and sub-tropical plants can be found.
Palm houses require constant heat, and as such, were considered status symbols in Victorian Britain.
The oldest pot plant in the world can be found here. It arrived at Kew in 1775.
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It had been a while since we had visited the iconic Kew Gardens, so this summer past we spent some time at this wonderful, popular Victorian park. It was a bright, sunny day, with colourful blooms lining the walkways and beyond. This is a gorgeous place, and we had a wonderful outing.
Since this structure dates back to Victorian times, the original image was textured to show Age, in keeping with the antiquity of the subject.
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💕 Heartfelt Gratitude to Exploration Photography for featuring this image :))
Uploaded
March 18th, 2017
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Viewed 228 Times - Last Visitor from New York, NY on 03/22/2024 at 2:03 AM
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Comments (11)
Glenn DiPaola
I'm surprise I didn't come to this one earlier. Beautifully framed and processed. Wonderful work all around. L/F