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In July 2003, the gardens were put on the list of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO. 

The current director is Professor Stephen D. Hopper, who succeeded Professor Sir Peter Crane. In November 2010, it was announced that Dr Tim Entwisle, Executive Director of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Sydney, was to become Director of Conservation, Living Collections & Estates. 

The Palm House and lake to Victoria Gate 

Professional activities 
 
 

Herbarium 

The Kew herbarium is one of the largest in the world with approximately 7 million specimens used primarily for taxonomic study. The herbarium is rich in types for all regions of the world, especially the tropics. 

Despite unfavourable growing conditions (atmospheric pollution from London, dry soils and low rainfall) Kew remains one of the most comprehensive plant collections in Britain. In an attempt to expand the collections away from these unfavourable conditions, Kew has established two out-stations, at Wakehurst Place in Sussex, a National Trust property, and (jointly with the Forestry Commission) Bedgebury Pinetum in Kent, the latter specialising in growing conifers. 

The Harvard University Herbaria and the Australian National Herbarium co-operate with Kew in the IPNI database to produce an authoritative source of information on botanical nomenclature. 

Seedbank 

Kew is important as a seedbank. It co-sponsors the Millennium Seed Bank Project inside the Wellcome Trust Millennium Building at Wakehurst Place in Sussex. 

Library and archives 

The library and archives at Kew are one of the world's largest botanical collections, with over half a million items, including books, botanical illustrations, photographs, letters and manuscripts, periodicals, and maps. The Jodrell Library was recently merged with the Economic Botany and Mycology Libraries and all are now housed in the Jodrell Laboratory. 

Forensic horticulture 

Kew provides advice and guidance to police forces around the world where plant material may provide important clues or evidence in cases. 

Economic Botany 

The Sustainable Uses of Plants group (formerly the Centre for Economic Botany), focus on the uses of plants in the United Kingdom and the world's arid and semi-arid zones. The Centre is also responsible for curation of the Economic Botany Collection, which contains more than 90,000 botanical raw materials and ethnographic artefacts, some of which are on display in the Plants + People exhibit in Museum No. 1. The Centre is now located in the Jodrell Laboratory. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

Nelson's Column 

Construction and history 

In February 1838 a group of 121 peers, MPs and other gentry formed a committee to raise a monument to Lord Nelson, funded by public subscription, and the Government agreed to provide a site in Trafalgar Square, in front of the newly completed National Gallery. A competition was held for designs with an estimated budget of between £20,000 and £30,000. The deadline for submissions was January 31st 1839. 

The winning entry, chosen by a sub-committee headed by the Duke of Wellington was a design by William Railton for a Corinthian column, surmounted by a statue of Nelson, and flanked by four sculpted lions. Flights of steps would lead up between the lions to the pedestal of the column. Several other entrants also submitted schemes for columns. The second prize was won by Edward Hodges Baily who suggested an elaborate sculptural group. 

Criticism of the organisation of the competition caused it to be rerun. Railton submitted a slightly revised design, and was once again declared the winner, with the stipulation that the statue of Nelson should be made by EH Baily. The original plan was for a column 203 feet high, including the base and statue, but this was reduced to 170 feet, with a shaft of 98 feet, due to concerns over stability. The base was to have been of granite and the shaft of Craigleith sandstone,but before construction began, it was decided that shaft should also be of granite. 

Excavations for the foundations had begun by July 1840. Work progressed slowly, and the stonework of the column, ready for the installation of the bronze capital was not completed until November 1843. The contractors were Grissell and Peto. 

In 1844 the Nelson Memorial Committee ran out of money, having only raised £20,485 in public subscriptions,and the Government, in the form of the Office of Woods and Forests took over the project. At this point the monument was still awaiting the reliefs and the lions. Controversy over the effect that the design of the base of the column would have on views of the National Gallery led to the removal of the flights of steps.  

The 5.5 m (18 ft) statue at the top was sculpted by Edward Hodges Baily R.A. from three pieces of Craigleith sandstone donated by the Duke of Buccleuch, former chairman of the Nelson Memorial Committee, from his own quarries. 

The statue stands on a fluted column built from solid blocks of granite from the Foggintor quarries on Dartmoor. The Corinthian capital is of bronze, cast from old British cannon at the Woolwich Arsenal foundry. It is based one from the Temple of Mars Ultor in Rome with the addtiton of a figure of the winged Victory on each face, and was modelled by C.H. Smith. 

The pedestal is decorated with four bronze relief panels, each 18 feet square,cast from captured French guns. They depict the Battle of Cape St Vincent, the Battle of the Nile, the Battle of Copenhagen and the Death of Nelson at Trafalgar. The sculptors were Musgrave Watson, William F Woodington, John Ternouth and John Edward Carew respectively. 

The four identical bronze lions at the column's base were not added until 1867. At one stage, they were intended to be of granite, and the sculptor James Lough was chosen to carve them.However he turned down the commission, and the sculptures eventually installed were designed by Sir Edwin Landseer in collaboration with Baron Marochetti. 

In 1925 a Scottish con artist, Arthur Furguson, "sold" the landmark to an unknowing American (he also "sold" Big Ben and Buckingham Palace). The column also had some symbolic importance to Adolf Hitler. If Hitler's plan to invade Britain, Operation Sealion, had been successful, he planned to move it to Berlin.

The sandstone statue by Edward Hodges. Baily 

Other monuments to Nelson 

The first civic monument to be erected in Nelson's honour was a 44-metre high obelisk on Glasgow Green in Glasgow, Scotland, in 1806. Also in Scotland, the Nelson Monument stands on top of Calton Hill, Edinburgh, and there is also a Nelson's Tower in Forres, Moray. In Dublin, Ireland, Nelson's Pillar was erected in 1808 but was destroyed by the IRA in 1966, and in the Bull Ring, Birmingham, England, there is a Grade II* listed bronze statue of Nelson by Richard Westmacott, dating from 1809. Sir Richard Westmacott also designed the elaborate monument to Nelson in Liverpool. In Portsmouth, Nelson's Needle, on top of Portsdown Hill, was paid for by the company of HMS Victory after arriving back in Portsmouth. There is a column topped with a decorative urn in the Castle Green, Hereford – a statue was planned in place of the urn, but insufficient money was raised. The Britannia Monument, Great Yarmouth, England (1819) is a 144 feet high doric column design. 

Elsewhere in the world, Nelson's Column in Montreal was erected by the merchants of that Canadian city in 1809, and there is also a Mount Nelson, near Invermere, British Columbia. A much shorter statue of Lord Nelson in Trafalgar Square, Bridgetown, Barbados is older than its counterpart in London. 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

London Stone 

The London Stone is a stone that is said to be the place from which the Romans measured all distances in Britannia. It is now set within a stone surround and iron grille on Cannon Street, in the City of London. This artefact is sometimes called the Stone of Brutus. Popular legends include the stone being the remains of an ancient stone circle that is alleged to have stood on Ludgate Hill and even the stone from which King Arthur drew Excalibur. 

History 

Whether or not this is true, the London Stone was for many hundreds of years recognised as the symbolic authority and heart of the City of London. It was the place where deals were forged and oaths were sworn. It was also the point from which official proclamations were made. Jack Cade, popular leader of those who rebelled against Henry VI in 1450, observed the tradition by striking his sword against it as a symbol of sovereignty after his forces entered London; on striking the stone, he then felt emboldened to declare himself "Lord of the City". 

The earliest written reference to the London Stone is in a book belonging to Æthelstan, King of the West Saxons in the early 10th Century. In the list of lands and rents some places are said to be "near unto London stone". It was already a landmark in 1198 when it was referred to on maps as Lonenstane or Londenstane. The first mayor of London was Henry Fitz-Ailwin de Londonestone (meaning 'Henry, son of Ailwin of London Stone') who served the city some time between 1189 and 1193. 

The Stone was originally situated in the middle of Cannon Street and was much larger than it is now. Later the Stone was set into the wall of St Swithin's Church which was on this site before it was bombed during the Second World War (the Stone remarkably left unscathed). 

The stone is still on display opposite Cannon Street station although rather inconspicuously situated. The stone and box, with iron grille, were designated a Grade II* listed structure on 5 June 1972. There is also a pub nearby called "The London Stone". 

Like the Ravens of the Tower of London, there is a myth that states the Stone's safety is linked to that of the city itself; "So long as the stone of Brutus is safe, so long shall London flourish". This relates to the myth that the stone was part of an altar built by Brutus of Troy, the legendary founder of London. 

London Stone 111 Cannon Street London 
 
 

Poets' Corner 

History 

The first person interred, Geoffrey Chaucer, owed his burial there in 1400 more to his position as Clerk of Works of the Palace of Westminster than to his fame as a writer. The erection of his magnificent tomb, however, by Nicholas Brigham in 1556 (to where Chaucer's remains were then transferred) and the nearby burial of Edmund Spenser in 1599 started a tradition that is still upheld. The area also houses the tombs of several Canons and Deans of the Abbey, as well as the grave of Thomas Parr who, it is said, died at the age of 152 in 1635 after having seen ten sovereigns on the throne. 

Burial or commemoration in the Abbey did not always occur at or soon after the time of death. Lord Byron, for example, whose poetry was admired but who maintained a scandalous lifestyle, died in 1824 but was not given a memorial until 1969. Even William Shakespeare, buried at Stratford-upon-Avon in 1616, was not honoured with a monument until 1740 when one designed by William Kent was constructed in Poets' Corner. Samuel Horsley, Dean of Westminster in 1796, was said to have tartly refused the request for actress Kitty Clive to be buried in the Abbey:

if we do not draw some line in this theatrical ambition to mortuary fame, we shall soon make Westminster Abbey little better than a Gothic Green Room! 

Not all poets appreciated memorialisation and Samuel Wesley's epitaph for Samuel Butler, who supposedly died in poverty, continued Butler's satiric tone:

While Butler, needy wretch, was yet alive,

No generous patron would a dinner give;

See him, when starv'd to death, and turn'd to dust,

Presented with a monumental bust.

The poet's fate is here in emblem shown,

He ask'd for bread, and he received a stone. 

Some of those buried in Poets' Corner also had memorials erected to them over or near their grave, either around the time of their death or later. In some cases, such as Joseph Addison, the burial took place elsewhere in Westminster Abbey, with a memorial later erected in Poets' Corner. In some cases a full burial of a body took place, in other cases the body was cremated and the ashes buried. There are also cases where there was support for a particular individual to be buried in Poets' Corner, but the decision was made to bury them elsewhere in the Abbey, such as Edward Bulwer Lytton. Other notable poets and writers, such as Aphra Behn, are buried elsewhere in the Abbey. At least two of the memorials (both to individuals buried in Poets' Corner - Rowe and Gay) were later moved to a location elsewhere in the Abbey due to the discovery of old paintings on the wall behind them. 

Memorial types 

The memorials can take several forms. Some are stone slabs set in the floor with a name and inscription carved on them, while others are more elaborate and carved stone monuments, or hanging stone tablets, or memorial busts. Some are commemorated in groups, such as the joint memorial for the Brontë sisters (commissioned in 1939, but not unveiled until 1947 due to the war), the sixteen World War I poets inscribed on a stone floor slab and unveiled in 1985, and the four founders of the Royal Ballet, commemorated together in 2009. 

The grave of Ben Jonson has the inscription "O Rare Ben Johnson" (sic) on the slab above it. It has been suggested that this could be read "Orare Ben Jonson" (pray for Ben Jonson), which would indicate a deathbed return to Catholicism, but the carving shows a distinct space between "O" and "rare". The fact that he was buried in an upright grave could be an indication of his reduced circumstances at the time of his death but it has also been suggested that Jonson asked for a grave exactly 18 inches square from the monarch and received an upright grave to fit in the requested space. 

As floor and wall space began to run out, the decision was taken to install a stained glass memorial window (unveiled in 1994 in memory of Edward Horton Hubbard), and it is here that new names are added in the form of inscribed panes of glass. There is room for 20 names, and currently (early 2010) there are six names on this window, with a new entry (Elizabeth Gaskell) planned for 25 September 2010. 

Poets Corner in Westminster Abbey 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 

10 Downing Street 

History of the building 

The original Number 10 

Number 10 Downing Street was originally three houses: a mansion overlooking St. James's Park (called "the House at the Back"), a townhouse behind it located at 10 Downing Street and a cottage next to Number 10. The townhouse, from which the modern building gets its name, was one of several built by Sir George Downing between 1682 and 1684. 

Downing, a notorious spy for Oliver Cromwell and later King Charles II, invested in properties and acquired considerable wealth. In 1654, he purchased the lease on land south of Saint James's Park, adjacent to the House at the Back, and within walking distance of Parliament. Downing planned to build a row of townhouses designed "for persons of good quality to inhabit in..."The street on which he built these homes now bears his name, and the largest became part of today's Number 10 Downing Street. 

Straightforward as this investment seemed, it proved otherwise. There was another claim to the land: the Hampden family had a lease that they refused to relinquish. Downing fought this claim, but failed and consequently had to wait thirty years before he could build his houses. 

When the Hampden lease expired, Downing received permission to build further west to take advantage of recent real estate developments. The new warrant issued in 1682 reads: “Sir George Downing ... [is authorised] to build new and more houses . . . subject to the proviso that it be not built any nearer than 14 feet of the wall of the said Park at the West end thereof.” 

Between 1682 and 1684, Downing built a cul-de-sac of two-storey townhomes complete with coach-houses, stables and views of St. James's Park. How many he built is not clear, most historians[who?] say fifteen, others[who?] say twenty. The addresses changed several times; Number 10 was "Number 5" for a while; it did not become "10" until 1787. 

Downing employed Sir Christopher Wren to design his houses. Although large, they were put up quickly and cheaply on soft soil with shallow foundations. The fronts, for example, were facades with lines painted on the surface imitating brick mortar. Prime Minister Winston Churchill wrote that Number 10 was "shaky and lightly built by the profiteering contractor whose name they bear."

The upper end of the Downing Street cul de sac closed off access to St. James's Park, making the street quiet and private. An advertisement in 1720, described it as: "... a pretty open Place, especially at the upper end, where are four or five very large and well-built Houses, fit for Persons of Honour and Quality; each House having a pleasant Prospect into St. James's Park, with a Tarras Walk." They had several distinguished residents. The Countess of Yarmouth lived at Number 10 between 1688 and 1689, Lord Lansdowne from 1692 to 1696 and the Earl of Grantham from 1699 to 1703. 

Downing probably never lived in his townhouses. In 1675, he retired to Cambridge where he died a few months after they were completed in 1684. A portrait of Sir George Downing now hangs in the entrance foyer of the modern Number 10 Downing Street. 

Rooms and special features 

The front door and entrance hall 

Most of the modern exterior shape and features of Number 10 were created by Kent when he combined the house at the back with the Downing Street townhouses in 1735. Its outside appearance is basically the same today as it was when he completed his work. An exception is the now famous front door entrance. 

Number 10's famous door is the product of the renovations Townsend ordered in 1766; it was probably not completed until 1772. Executed in the Georgian style by the architect Kenton Couse, it is unassuming and narrow, consisting of a single white stone step leading to a modest brick front. The small, six-panelled door, originally made of black oak, is surrounded by cream-coloured casing and adorned with a semicircular fanlight window. Painted in white, between the top and middle sets of panels, is the number "10". The zero of the number "10" is set at a slight angle as a nod to the original number which had a badly fixed zero. A black iron knocker in the shape of a lion's head is between the two middle panels; below the knocker is a brass letter box with the inscription "First Lord of the Treasury". A black ironwork fence with spiked newel posts runs along the front of the house and up each side of the step to the door. The fence rises above the step into a double-swirled archway, supporting an iron gas lamp surmounted by a crown. (See The Entrance Door c1930: As seen from the outside) 

The main staircase 

When William Kent rebuilt the interior of Number 10 between 1732 and 1734, his craftsmen created a stone triple staircase with no visible supports in the main section. With an wrought iron balustrade embellished with a scroll design and mahogany handrail, it rises from the garden floor to the third floor. Kent's staircase is the first architectural feature visitors see as they enter Number 10. Black and white engravings and photographs of all the past Prime Ministers decorate the wall; they are rearranged slightly to make room for a new picture of the most recent former Prime Minister. There are two photographs of Winston Churchill. (See The Main Stairway c1930 General view showing portraits of the Prime Ministers and Detail of the Wrought Iron Balustrade (See also Simon Schama's Tour of Downing Street. Pt4: The Staircase) Often in films Hedsor House in Buckinghamshire has been used as a replica location due to its near identical main staircase.