More History and Heritage.....

1841-1885: The flowering of Kew

William Nesfield

The Aitons

'Capability' Brown

Charles Bridgeman

The Lake

Palm House

Kew Today.....

The Lake

Syon Vista

Palm House

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Syon Vista

Nesfield's Syon Vista finally incorporated Richmond Gardens into the grand design for the Botanic Gardens.

Richmond Gardens had remained under separate management from the Royal Botanic Gardens until the retirement of Aiton in July 1845. The plan for the Syon and Pagoda Vistas was presented by Nesfield in the autumn of 1845, and staking out began in February 1846.

Plans from 1837 and 1840 show that Syon Vista was constructed through a gap in the trees in Richmond Gardens that was originally created by 'Capability' Brown during their 18th century landscaping. Brown had formed this opening by extending and manipulating the groves and wildernesses of trees that his predecessor, Bridgeman, had already created.

This conservative approach, constructively using what had gone before, was followed by Nesfield. In his "Sketch plan of the ground attached to the Palm House", it can be seen that he deliberately maintained the previous landscape structure and showed "the manner in which a National Arboretum may be formed without materially altering the general features."

Construction of Syon Vista began in 1851 and was completed in 1852; with the trees being planted in 1854. The wide walk was 1,200 m (3,937 ft) long and was gravelled to a depth of 18 inches. Its construction supposedly involved the removal of so much earth that it resulted in the construction of Mount Pleasant at the end of Syon Vista.

In 1871, the vista was planted with more Douglas firs and evergreen oaks. However, the gravel appears to have been an unpopular detail, so in 1882 the path was grassed over. Unfortunately, the gravel was retained underneath the grass, which turned brown in hot summers, so the walk was completely dug up and re-grassed between 1905 and 1913, although the last remnants of gravel were not removed until 1924.

Syon Vista is now a tree-lined grass path, running past the Lake and popular with visitors, taking them from the Palm House to the Thames with its view of Syon House. It is an important part of the setting of the Palm House and a valuable axis in the modern day Gardens.

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