Kew
Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames in South West London.
Kew is best known for being the home of the Royal Botanic Gardens (now a World Heritage Site). Other points of interest include Kew Palace and The National Archives (previously known as the Public Records Office).
Kew village refers to several attractive parades of shops adjoining Kew Gardens station. It contains a mixture of independent retailers, several restaurants, including the well-reviewed The Glasshouse, and numerous cafes. Most of Kew developed in the late 19th century, following the arrival of the District Line of the Underground, and is characterised by large detached or semi-detached houses. It is a popular (and expensive) residential area because of its transport links and proximity to Kew Gardens.
Among those buried at Saint Anne's Church, Kew, are Richard Levett, Lord Mayor of London and former owner of Kew Palace and members of his family, including Lincoln's Inn barrister Levett Blackborne, who sold Kew Palace to the Royal family.[1] Also buried at Saint Anne's are William Aiton, first keeper of the gardens at Kew; English portrait and landscape painter Thomas Gainsborough; Sir William Hooker, director of the Royal Gardens at Kew, and father of English botanist and explorer Joseph Dalton Hooker; Rev. Thomas Haverfield, chaplain to the Duke of Sussex, a son of King George III; and Johann Zoffany, German neoclassical painter active in England.[2]
Etymology
The name Kew is a combination of two words: the Old French kai (landing place; 'quay' derives from this) and Old English hoh (spur of land). The land spur is the bend in the Thames. The name was recorded in 1327 as Cayho. [3]
Education
Transport and locale
The South Circular Road (the A205) passes through Kew, with Kew Road providing the main road link to Richmond. The M4 motorway starts a short distance north of Kew, providing access to Heathrow Airport and the west. The A316 road starts in Chiswick and continues over Chiswick bridge and junctions with the south circular at Chaulker's corner.
In the 17th Century, the Kings Road was created by Charles II to travel to Kew and Hampton Court. It remained the Kings Private Road until 1830. However, people with the right connections were able to obtain a pass to use it. By the 1960s the King's Road had become famous for its fashionable boutiques and its association with the Swinging Sixties.
Since 1869 rail services have been available from Kew Gardens station, with services from both London Underground and National Rail.
- Nearest places
- Nearest tube station
- Bridges
- Kew Bridge, which carries the A205 South Circular Road. Beside the bridge is Kew Gardens Pier, which serves tourist ferries operating under license from London River Services.
- Kew Railway Bridge
Quotes
- I am His Highness' dog at Kew;
- Pray tell me, sir, whose dog are you?
- Epigram, engraved on the Collar of a Dog which I gave to his Royal Highness (Frederick, Prince of Wales)— Alexander Pope, 1688-1744
'Trams and dusty trees.
Highbury bore me. Richmond and Kew
Undid me.'
- The Waste Land, 1922 (T.S.Eliot), 1888-1965
Go down to Kew in lilac-time, in lilac-time, in lilac-time;
Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)
And you shall wander hand in hand with love in summer's wonderland ;
Go down to Kew in lilac-time (it isn't far from London!)
- The Barrel-Organ, Alfred Noyes, 1880 - 1958
Sport and Leisure
Kew has several sport clubs and gym's including Putney Town Rowing Club and Richmond gymnastics association.
Gallery
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The Parish Church of St Anne -
Kew Green
References
- ^ page 459, Burials in the Kew Church, The Environs of London: Counties of Herts, Essex and Kent, Vol. 4, Daniel Lysons, London, 1796, Centre for Metropolitan History, British History Online
- ^ Find A Grave, Saint Anne's Parish Churchyard, Kew
- ^ Room, Adrian: “Dictionary of Place-Names in the British Isles”, Bloomsbury, 1988
External links
- Kew Society website
- Richmond Society website
- Kew Online
- Kew Meridian
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (Kew Gardens)
