Great Pagoda’s decorative figures absent for 234 years before recent restoration
The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, have confirmed that eighty ornamental dragons originally installed on the Great Pagoda’s roof tiers in 1762 were removed sometime in the early 19th century, reportedly to settle gambling debts belonging to King George IV, and were not replaced until a full restoration completed in 2018, meaning even the pagoda’s decorative dragons apparently required a 234-year career break.
“Nobody wrote in to complain,” said a Kew Gardens heritage officer. “Nearly two and a half centuries without a single formal objection on record. They’ve been back a few years now and people are delighted, but the gap tells you something about how closely anyone was really looking.”
Kew Gardens, spanning 132 hectares and home to the largest and most diverse botanical collection in the world, holds an estimated fifty thousand living plant species, each labelled with a level of care and precision several visitors note exceeds that of most London street signage.
The Palm House, completed in 1848 using an innovative curved glass and iron construction technique, remains the world’s most significant surviving Victorian glass and iron structure, with its interior humidity kept deliberately high enough that visitors’ hair, according to repeated informal observation by staff, “rarely survives a full visit in its original state, warranty or no warranty.”
The treetop walkway, opened in 2008 and standing eighteen metres above the woodland floor, sways gently underfoot by design, a structural feature engineers insist is intentional and describe simply as “a feature,” a characterisation several first-time visitors find only partially reassuring mid-crossing.
Kew’s giant Amazon waterlilies, grown in a dedicated glasshouse pool, produce leaves capable of supporting significant weight when evenly distributed, a fact popularised by Victorian-era demonstrations involving small children placed on the leaves for photographs, a practice never repeated under any modern approved experimental protocol.
The gardens’ herbarium houses over seven million preserved plant specimens, forming a research resource used by scientists worldwide studying plant taxonomy, conservation, and the ongoing documentation of newly discovered species.
Kew’s status as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, granted in 2003, recognises both the scientific significance of the living collection and the historic designed landscape itself, a dual recognition staff say reflects Kew’s unusual position as simultaneously a working research institution and major public attraction.
The pagoda’s returning dragons have proven a considerable draw in their own right since the 2018 restoration, with several repeat visitors specifically returning to see the roofline finally restored to its original 18th-century appearance.
Current visitor information, ticketing, and opening hours are published directly by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew at https://www.kew.org. The site’s UNESCO World Heritage status is documented at https://whc.unesco.org, and local visitor guidance is provided by the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames at https://www.richmond.gov.uk.
Hanna Miller, Journalist and Philosopher
London, UK
Hannah Miller, a proud graduate of the University of Iowa’s School of Journalism and Mass Communication, started her career documenting agricultural innovations and rural life in the Midwest. Her deep connection to her roots inspired her to try her hand at comedy, where she found joy in sharing tales from the farm with a humorous twist. Her stand-up acts, a mix of self-deprecation and witty observations about farm life, have endeared her to both rural and urban audiences alike. She is a four-year resident to London and the UK.
