Kew Green is a large open space in
Kew
Kew () is a district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. Its population at the 2011 census was 11,436. Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is a ...
in west London. Owned by the
Crown Estate
The Crown Estate is a collection of lands and holdings in the United Kingdom belonging to the British monarch as a corporation sole, making it "the sovereign's public estate", which is neither government property nor part of the monarch's priva ...
, it is leased to the
London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
The London Borough of Richmond upon Thames () in southwest London forms part of Outer London and is the only London borough on both sides of the River Thames. It was created in 1965 when three smaller council areas amalgamated under the London ...
. It is roughly triangular in shape, and its open grassland, framed with
broadleaf tree
A broad-leaved, broad-leaf, or broadleaf tree is any tree within the diverse botanical group of angiosperms that has flat leaves and produces seeds inside of fruits. It is one of two general types of trees, the other being a conifer, a tree with n ...
s, extends to about thirty acres. Kew Green is overlooked by a mixture of period townhouses, historic buildings and commercial establishments. In the 1730s, Kew Green was a venue for
cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of eleven players on a field at the centre of which is a pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two bails balanced on three stumps. The batting side scores runs by striki ...
matches.
History and description
Most of the older houses in Kew are built round the Green and along the eastern side of the Kew Road looking towards
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
. The Green itself is a big triangular space. It is mentioned in a Parliamentary Survey of Richmond taken in 1649, and is there described as 'a piece of common or uninclosed ground called Kew Green, lying within the Township of Kew, conteyning about 20 acres.' An 18th-century view, taken from a meadow to the east, shows
Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Quee ...
on the right, a small irregular lake with an island to the left. A road led to the western point of the Green, where the palace was visible, a windmill behind it; and trees, the trunks engirdled by seats, grew opposite the square-built church which stood isolated on the Green. Some land at the end of the Green was enclosed by
George IV
George IV (George Augustus Frederick; 12 August 1762 – 26 June 1830) was King of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland and King of Hanover from the death of his father, King George III, on 29 January 1820, until his own death ten y ...
, and a meadow east of the bridge was made common land, as part of a design, never carried out, of building a new palace at Kew in place of the
Dutch House
Electro house is a genre of electronic dance music characterized by heavy bass and a tempo around 130 beats per minute. The term has been used to describe the music of many ''DJ Mag'' Top 100 DJs, including Benny Benassi, Skrillex, Steve Aoki ...
. In the early 19th century
Sir Richard Phillips
Sir Richard Phillips (13 December 1767 – 2 April 1840) was an English schoolteacher, author, publisher and vegetarianism activist.
Life
Phillips was born in London. Following some political difficulties in Leicester where he was a schoolte ...
described the Green as 'a triangular area of about 30 acres bounded by dwelling-houses,' and another description of a slightly later date speaks of the 'well-built houses and noble trees' surrounding it.
Kew Green was in use as a venue for cricket by the 1730s and was used for a match between
London
London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...
and
a Middlesex XI in 1732. A women's
One Day International
A One Day International (ODI) is a form of limited overs cricket, played between two teams with international status, in which each team faces a fixed number of overs, currently 50, with the game lasting up to 9 hours. The Cricket World C ...
between
New Zealand
New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
and
Jamaica
Jamaica (; ) is an island country situated in the Caribbean Sea. Spanning in area, it is the third-largest island of the Greater Antilles and the Caribbean (after Cuba and Hispaniola). Jamaica lies about south of Cuba, and west of His ...
was scheduled to be held on the Green in 1973 as part of the inaugural
Women's Cricket World Cup
The ICC Women's Cricket World Cup is the sport's oldest world championship, with the first tournament held in England in 1973. Matches are played as One Day Internationals (ODIs) over 50 overs per team, while there is also another champion ...
but the match was abandoned without a toss being made. The match would have been the first
Women's One Day International
Women's One Day International (WODI) is the limited overs form of women's cricket. Matches are scheduled for 50 overs, equivalent to the men's game. The first women's ODIs were played in 1973, as part of the first Women's World Cup which was ...
match ever played. It is still used for club cricket today as the home of
Kew Cricket Club
Kew Cricket Club plays matches on Kew Green in Kew, which is now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
The club was formed in 1882 following the amalgamation of two local clubs, Kew Oxford Cricket Club and Kew Cambridge Cricket Club, ...
.
Today the eastern and southwestern sides of the Green are residential; the northern side is largely residential, with a few pubs, restaurants, and the Herbarium Library; and a small number of commercial and retail buildings cluster in the southeast corner. To the north of the Green is
Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Quee ...
, carrying the busy
South Circular Road, which in turn runs across the Green, dividing it into a large western part and a smaller eastern part. At the south end is
St Anne's Church, Kew's parish church. At the west end of the Green is Elizabeth Gate, one of the two main entrances into
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
. Near the northeast corner is Kew Pond, originally thought to have been a natural pond fed from a creek of the tidal
Thames
The River Thames ( ), known alternatively in parts as the River Isis, is a river that flows through southern England including London. At , it is the longest river entirely in England and the second-longest in the United Kingdom, after the R ...
. During
high (spring) tides sluice gates are opened to allow river water to fill the pond via an underground channel. The pond is concreted, rectangular in shape and contains an important
reed bed
A reedbed or reed bed is a natural habitat found in floodplains, waterlogged depressions and
estuaries. Reedbeds are part of a succession from young reeds colonising open water or wet ground through a gradation of increasingly dry ground. As ...
habitat which is vital for conservation and resident water birds. The pond is managed in partnership with the Friends of Kew Pond.
Buildings
![Sewer ventilation pipe - geograph](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/77/Sewer_ventilation_pipe_-_geograph.org.uk_-_1086851.jpg)
Kew Green is also a street address. The odd-numbered buildings face the west side, and the even-numbered buildings face the east.
On the west side, Numbers 9–11, 17–25, 29–33, 49–51 and 55 Kew Green are all
Grade II listed
In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
,
as are Numbers 57–73, 77, and 83.
On the east side, Numbers 2–4, 18–22, 52–56, 62–64, 90, and 96–106 Kew Green are all Grade II listed.
Also Grade II listed are some
lamp standards,
a Victorian sewer vent,
a
K6 red telephone box,
and the cross-shaped
war memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war.
Symbolism
Historical usage
It has ...
near the church,
all on the west side of Kew Green.
The Coach and Horses public house is at 8, Kew Green. Another public house, the Greyhound, is at 82, Kew Green. 79, Kew Green is also a public house, but has changed its name; for many years it was known as the Rose and Crown, but in 2013 it became the Cricketers. 85, Kew Green was once the King's Arms public house, but it has now become an Italian restaurant.
From 1964 until it folded in 1997, the Caxton Name Plate Manufacturing Company was based at 110, Kew Green. The company's name is still visible on the exterior of the building. At the back of Caxton House facing
Westerley Ware
Westerley Ware is a small garden and recreation ground in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is at the foot of Kew Bridge, between Waterloo Place (a row of houses and flats off Kew Green) and the Thames riverbank. Historical ...
is the Victorian
mortuary building.
50, Kew Green was the original home of Kew's main primary school, the Queen's Church of England School, founded in 1824 as the King's School (the name of the school changes with the sex of the monarch). The building was rebuilt in 1887. In 1969 the school moved to new premises in Cumberland Road and the Victorian schoolhouse was demolished. To preserve its legacy, there is an embroidery of the original building in the pew cushions of St Anne's Church.
22, Kew Green was the home of the painter
Arthur Hughes; and 49, Kew Green was the home of
William Jackson Hooker
Sir William Jackson Hooker (6 July 178512 August 1865) was an English botanist and botanical illustrator, who became the first director of Kew when in 1841 it was recommended to be placed under state ownership as a botanic garden. At Kew he ...
and later of his son
Joseph Dalton Hooker
Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker (30 June 1817 – 10 December 1911) was a British botanist and explorer in the 19th century. He was a founder of geographical botany and Charles Darwin's closest friend. For twenty years he served as director of t ...
, both directors of Kew Gardens, and both now buried in St Anne's churchyard. Both properties have
blue plaques
A blue plaque is a permanent sign installed in a public place in the United Kingdom and elsewhere to commemorate a link between that location and a famous person, event, or former building on the site, serving as a historical marker. The term i ...
.
Cambridge Cottage was built by Christopher Appleby, a barrister, in the early 18th century. It was leased by
Lord Bute
John Stuart, 3rd Earl of Bute, (; 25 May 1713 – 10 March 1792), styled Lord Mount Stuart between 1713 and 1723, was a British nobleman who served as the 7th Prime Minister of Great Britain from 1762 to 1763 under George III. He was arguabl ...
in 1758. In 1772 it was purchased by
George III
George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and of Ireland from 25 October 1760 until the union of the two kingdoms on 1 January 1801, after which he was King of the United Kingdom of Great Br ...
as a home for two of his sons and in 1838 it became the home of his seventh son, the
Duke of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by male des ...
(1774 – 1850), who extended the house.
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge
Prince George, Duke of Cambridge (George William Frederick Charles; 26 March 1819 – 17 March 1904) was a member of the British royal family, a grandson of King George III and cousin of Queen Victoria. The Duke was an army officer by professio ...
(1819 – 1904) owned the house after the death of his mother,
The Duchess of Cambridge
Duke of Cambridge, one of several current royal dukedoms in the United Kingdom , is a hereditary title of specific rank of nobility in the British royal family. The title (named after the city of Cambridge in England) is heritable by agnatic, m ...
(1797 – 1889), and when he died in 1904 it was owned by Kew Gardens.
Gallery
Image:Kew Green panorama 661-3 Hugin b.jpg, View of the northern half of Kew Green
Image:Kew Green Pond - geograph.org.uk - 1228999.jpg, The pond near Kew Green
Image:Cricket practice on Kew Green - geograph.org.uk - 423523.jpg, Practising cricket on Kew Green
Image:Capel House, Kew Green - London. (6776310831).jpg, One of the listed houses on the green
Image:Cottages on Kew Green - geograph.org.uk - 1229005.jpg, The northeast corner of the green
Image:Elizabeth Gate, Kew Gardens - geograph.org.uk - 362289.jpg, Elizabeth Gate, one of the entrances into Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
, at the west end of the green
See also
*
Kew Bridge
Kew Bridge is a wide-span bridge over the Tideway (upper estuary of the Thames) linking the London Boroughs of Richmond upon Thames and Hounslow. The present bridge, which was opened in 1903 as King Edward VII Bridge by King Edward VII and Quee ...
*
Kew Cricket Club
Kew Cricket Club plays matches on Kew Green in Kew, which is now in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames.
The club was formed in 1882 following the amalgamation of two local clubs, Kew Oxford Cricket Club and Kew Cambridge Cricket Club, ...
*
Kew Gardens
Kew Gardens is a botanical garden, botanic garden in southwest London that houses the "largest and most diverse botany, botanical and mycology, mycological collections in the world". Founded in 1840, from the exotic garden at Kew Park, its li ...
*
St Anne's Church, Kew
St Anne's Church, Kew, is a parish church in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. The building, which dates from 1714, and is Grade II* listed, forms the central focus of Kew Green. The raised churchyard, which is on three sides of ...
*
Westerley Ware
Westerley Ware is a small garden and recreation ground in Kew in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames. It is at the foot of Kew Bridge, between Waterloo Place (a row of houses and flats off Kew Green) and the Thames riverbank. Historical ...
References
Further reading
* 140 pages. .
Moses. John: "Kew Green" The Kew Society, 2020
Bibliography
*
{{Green London
1730 establishments in England
Kew, London
Crown Estate
Cricket grounds in Surrey
Cricket grounds in London
Cricket in Surrey
Defunct cricket grounds in England
Defunct sports venues in Surrey
English cricket venues in the 18th century
History of Surrey
History of the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Houses in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Parks and open spaces in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Grade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Sport in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Sport in Surrey
Sports venues completed in 1730
Sports venues in Surrey
Streets in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Kew Green