Chelsea Physic Garden
Why is it significant?
Find the high brick wall along Royal Hospital Road and imagine what is hiding behind it: nearly four acres of medicinal plants, herbs, spices and trees from all over the world, in a garden that has been growing here since 1673. Chelsea Physic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in London.
Key Facts
| Place | Chelsea Physic Garden |
|---|---|
| Address | 66 Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4HS, United Kingdom |
| Geo Coordinates | 51.48460, -0.16230 |
| Part of Walk | Pensioners, Poets and Punks: Chelsea's Riverside History from the Royal Hospital to the King's Road, London |
| Generated | Generated |
Find the high brick wall along Royal Hospital Road and imagine what is hiding behind it: nearly four acres of medicinal plants, herbs, spices and trees from all over the world, in a garden that has been growing here since 1673. Chelsea Physic Garden is the oldest botanic garden in London.
It was founded by the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries, the guild of London's pharmacists, so that their apprentices could learn to recognise healing plants... and, just as important, poisonous ones. They chose this spot for two reasons. The river gave them a landing stage for their ceremonial barge, and the warmth of the Thames, together with the high walls, created a microclimate where tender plants could survive the English winter.
Then came the best property deal in London's history. In 1722 Sir Hans Sloane, who now owned the land, granted the garden to the Apothecaries for a rent of five pounds a year, in perpetuity, on condition that they kept it as a physic garden. As far as anyone knows, that rent is still being paid. A statue of Sloane, a copy of one by Rysbrack, stands in the middle of the garden to keep an eye on things.
Under its great head gardener Philip Miller, who ran it for almost fifty years, plants and seeds travelled across the world from here. The story goes that cotton seed sent from Chelsea in the 1730s helped start the cotton crop in the new colony of Georgia. Inside the walls there is a rock garden from 1773, built partly from old stones of the Tower of London and from lava brought back from Iceland by the botanist Joseph Banks, and what is said to be Britain's largest outdoor fruiting olive tree.
Until the Victorians built the Embankment, the river lapped right against the garden's southern edge. Now you can see the traffic where the water used to be. Walk down Swan Walk to the river and turn right along Cheyne Walk, the most literary street in London.