I visited Chelsea Physic Garden as part of London's Open House Festival, whereby certain tourist attractions and buildings are free to enter.
Situated on the River Thames Embankment, and close to the Royal Hospital Chelsea- home to the Chelsea Pensioners (retired British Army veterans)- it was my first time stepping foot inside these high walls.
Founded in 1673 by the Worshipful Societies of Apothecaries of London for its apprentices to study botany and its uses, it is the oldest botanical garden in London; focusing on medicinal, herbal and useful plants.
This spiral sculpture, standing by the Main Lawn is a double helix, representing DNA). It celebrates the garden's 350th anniversary, and contains the names of head gardeners and curators from the last 350 years.
It's practical as well as decorative (like all of the plants here) and inside the sculpture is a Himalayan musk rose in need of support.
This statue is of Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1753) and is fairly new, dating from 2014. The original statue of him sits in the British Museum. He was an Irish physician and naturalist, and he bequeathed his collection of 71,000 items- including books, plant specimens, drawings and coins- to the British nation.
This is the Community Kitchen Garden.
The Learning Centre, and the garden was initially established on a leased site from Sir John Danvers' garden (he was an English courtier and politician), which adjoined what had once been the home of Sir Thomas More; a Lord Chancellor who was convicted of treason during the reign of Henry VIII.
Danvers House was destroyed in 1696, and the area is now Danvers Street.
There was a seasonal exhibition of squashes going on around the Miller Beds...
A marrow in its bed...
It was Sir Hans Sloane who leased Chelsea Physic Garden's current site to the Society of Apothecaries, in 1722, for £5 a year in perpetuity. The proviso was that the garden supply the Royal Society, of which he was principal, herbarium samples.
Oceania Beds...
This garden is truly unique, as it's the only botanic garden focused on medicinal, herbal and useful plants.
The Lower Lawn and Woodland Walk sit adjacent to one another...
Wooden walkway in the Woodland Walk...
Rustic grille- I'm not sure if this was meant for protection or nurturing climbers...
The garden contains trees and plants of varying sizes; like this giant creeping out through the wilderness...
A closer view, and some of these trees are positively tropical, with the high walls of the garden creating a micro-climate.
The Embankment Gate serves as a reminder that you're not far away from the bustle of London...
Ginkgo Biloba.
Dicotyledon Order Beds...
Stoneware in the Garden of Useful Plants...
I believe this is a pomegranate bush...
Rain barrel and a beehive...
The cardoon is also known as the artichoke thistle, and is purple/pink in colour when in bloom. These are moribund, and looked a tad scary- shades of Blair Witch, methinks!
Garden of Edible Plants...
Tidy, lower-level plants...
And wilder species, forming their own arch. Expect to be bitten by flying things when you come here!
The Atlantic Islands Border and a skinny tree...
Fun fact: when I was 8 I did a school project about trees. My father, who had studied botany, told me all their Latin names (shame I can't remember them!)
Looking over to the central part of the garden, and this garden is certainly worth a good hour or so of your time...
Garden of Medicinal Plants...
Nurturing glasshouses...
Xerophytic Bed (translated as a dry garden/ arid bed...)
This greenhouse is out of bounds, reminding us that these are very much working botanic gardens...
Pelagonioums are commonly called geraniums...
Over time, parts of the garden have been lost to road development...
...This would include the 1874 construction of the Chelsea Embankment, on the north bank of the River Thames.
Pond Rockery.
I finished my day with a walk by the aforementioned Chelsea Embankment, and to the right is Albert Bridge...
Chelsea Physic Garden, I have plans to return...
Until then,
TTFN
Miss Elaineous
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