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Cambridge Cottage

Country houses in LondonGrade II listed buildings in the London Borough of Richmond upon ThamesGrade II listed houses in LondonHouses in the London Borough of Richmond upon ThamesKew, London
Kew GreenRoyal Botanic Gardens, KewRoyal residences in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames
Cambridge Cottage, Kew Green, Surrey geograph.org.uk 4709928
Cambridge Cottage, Kew Green, Surrey geograph.org.uk 4709928

Cambridge Cottage is a former royal residence in Kew in London. It is located on the west side of Kew Green, very close to St Anne's Church; the rear of the house is in Kew Gardens, where it is known as the Duke's Garden. Historically it is associated with Prince Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge and his son Prince George, Duke of Cambridge, from whom it takes its name. The connection of the House of Hanover with the area dates back to the acquisition of Richmond Lodge by the future George II from the attainted Jacobite Duke of Ormonde in the 1710s. His grandson George III occupied Kew Palace as his summer residence and his children partly grew up in the area. In 1806 he granted Cambridge Cottage to his seventh and youngest surviving son Adolphus, Duke of Cambridge while his brother Ernest Augustus, Duke of Cumberland took over King's Cottage next door. Adolphus spent a number of years away from England as Viceroy in Hanover following its 1813 liberation from French occupation. He lived at Cambridge Cottage with his wife Princess Augusta, who continued to live there for many years after her husband's death in 1850. It later passed to their son George, Duke of Cambridge, a first cousin of Queen Victoria and long-standing Commander in Chief of the British Army. On his death in 1904 it was given to Kew Gardens by his cousin Edward VII. Subsequently it was used as a museum of forestry. Despite the building's name it is a not a cottage but a mansion. The building dates back to the early nineteenth century and features a portico entrance facing onto Kew Green. It has been a Grade II listed building since 1950.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Cambridge Cottage (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Cambridge Cottage
Kew Green, London Kew (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames)

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N 51.483611111111 ° E -0.28888888888889 °
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Cambridge Cottage

Kew Green 37
TW9 3AA London, Kew (London Borough of Richmond upon Thames)
England, United Kingdom
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Cambridge Cottage, Kew Green, Surrey geograph.org.uk 4709928
Cambridge Cottage, Kew Green, Surrey geograph.org.uk 4709928
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Kew Herbarium
Kew Herbarium

The Kew Herbarium (herbarium code: K) is one of the world's largest and most historically significant herbaria, housed at the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew in London, England. Established in the 1850s on the ground floor of Hunter House, it has grown to maintain approximately seven million preserved plant specimens, including 330,000 type specimens. The herbarium's collections, which include specimens dating back to 1700, represent about 95% of known vascular plant genera and 60% of described fungi, with specimens collected over 260 years of botanical exploration. The herbarium processes around 5,000 specimen loans annually and hosts approximately 3,000 visitor-days of research visits each year, supporting a wide range of botanical research. The herbarium's development has been closely tied to British botanical exploration and colonial expansion, with contributions from influential directors like Sir Joseph Dalton Hooker and major acquisitions including the Gay Herbarium. Research at the herbarium has contributed to botanical taxonomy, with publications such as the Index Kewensis, initiated with funding from Charles Darwin in 1882, and the Kew Record. The facility has undergone several major expansions since its first purpose-built wing was constructed in 1877, with Victorian architecture that includes spiral staircases, iron columns, and vast handcrafted wooden cupboards. In 2022, the herbarium initiated a £29 million digitisation project to produce high-resolution images of its collection, with a target completion date of 2026. The herbarium is a resource for botanical research in taxonomy, conservation, ecology, and climate science. Its specimens offer data that aid in tracking environmental changes, studying plant diseases, and identifying new species, as demonstrated by the 2022 discovery of Victoria boliviana, the world's largest water lily species, which had remained unrecognised in the collection for almost two centuries. The herbarium's future is currently subject to debate, with controversial plans announced in 2023 to relocate the collection to Thames Valley Science Park, prompting discussion about the balance between preservation needs, research accessibility, and maintaining the historic connection between the herbarium and Kew's living collections.