Catalogue description Paper relating to the Pleasure Grounds of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew (KPG)

Prior to 1845, the Botanic Garden took up a small section of the larger Royal Gardens at Kew. The Pleasure Grounds, encompassing nearly 200 acres of grass and woodland (along with 350 acres of Deer Park) were situated to the south of the original Botanic Garden and were managed separately. In the early nineteenth century the Pleasure Grounds were mainly used for grazing sheep and cattle and for raising pheasants. At this time they were under the control of the Lord Steward's department and William Townsend Aiton (1766-1849).

In 1831 William IV gave both the Pleasure Grounds and Deer Park to his brother, the Duke of Cumberland (1771-1851). In his review of the Royal Gardens in 1837, John Lindley (1799-1865) recommended the addition of parts of the Pleasure Grounds to enable the creation of an expanded and improved Botanic Garden. Having taken over from Aiton as Director of the Botanic Gardens in 1841, Sir William Hooker (1785-1865) proceeded to appropriate small sections of the Pleasure Grounds with the approval of Queen Victoria. From 1843 onwards a wire fence running between Unicorn Gate and Kew Palace separated the Botanic Gardens from the Pleasure Grounds. In 1845 Aiton retired and Hooker gained control over both Botanic Gardens and Pleasure Grounds. In 1848 the Duke of Cumberland, now King of Hanover, ceded control over the final sections he had retained as a game reserve.

Hooker could now proceed to expand the Botanic Gardens, and, with the help of designs by William Andrews Nesfield (1793-1881) to improve the existing arboretum which, by 1849, contained over 2000 species. Future Directors, including William Hooker's son, Joseph Hooker (1817-1911) continued this task. In 1866, Alexander Williamson (1819-1870), the last Curator of the Pleasure Grounds retired, the post was abolished and all related duties transferred to the Curator of the Botanic Garden. A later addition to this area of the gardens was the Chokushi-Mon or Japanese Gateway given to Kew after the Japan-British Exhibition in 1910.

In the early nineteenth century, public access to the Pleasure Grounds was allowed but limited to only two afternoons a week. A letter in the Gardener's Chronicle of 1847 recommended that those members of the public 'in search of nothing but rough amusement' should be restricted to the Pleasure Grounds rather than allowed access to the Botanic Gardens. Perhaps with hopes of keeping such elements away from the Gardens, Hooker grudgingly widened access to the Pleasure Grounds in 1851, opening it daily from May to September. From 1853 it was also open during the summer. Eventually in March 1864 entrance was allowed every day except Christmas Day. In 1895 the wire fence separating the Botanic Gardens and the Pleasure Grounds was demolished and they were finally physically reunited; the Pleasure Grounds are now seen as part of the Royal Botanic Gardens.