Palm House

The Palm House stands in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, a large glasshouse built in the 19th century to shelter palms and other tropical plants. Its curved iron ribs and thousands of glass panes let in light and warmth, creating a controlled jungle climate. The building itself was the first of its size and introduced wrought iron on such a scale. An upper walkway winds among the tallest trunks, letting visitors look down on the crowns of the plants. Nearby, Kew’s Temperate House keeps cooler-climate species under the same iron-and-glass style. Many of the palms and cycads inside are rare or extinct in the wild, saved here through careful propagation. The oldest pot plant in the world, an Encephalartos altensteinii, has stood in the Palm House since 1848. Decimus Burton designed the classical curves, while iron-founder Richard Turner supplied the structure and advised on heating and ventilation. The building even hosted an aquarium beneath its floor until 2019, showing mangroves and rock pools. Visitors enter a warm, humid space where giant palms rise toward the glass roof. Paths lead past ferns and orchids to the raised walkway, offering views over the canopy. The ironwork, now repaired and repainted, still bears the marks of experiments in paint endurance from the early 20th century. Outside, gravel paths and flowerbeds frame the glasshouse, linking it to the wider gardens.