Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew

The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, usually referred to simply as Kew Gardens, are extensive gardens and botanical glasshouses between Richmond upon Thames and Kew in southwest London, England. The current director is Sir Peter Crane.

Pagoda

In a corner of Kew Gardens stands the Great Pagoda, erected in the year 1762, from a design in imitation of the Chinese Taa. The lowest of the ten octagonal storeys is 49 feet (15 metres) in diameter. The whole structure, from the base to the highest point is 163 feet (50 metres) high.

Related Topics:
Pagoda - 1762 - Chinese

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Each storey finishes with a projecting roof, after the Chinese manner, covered with plates of varnished iron of different colours, and round each of them is a gallery enclosed with a rail. All the angles of the roof are adorned with large dragons, eighty in number, covered with a kind of thin glass of various colours. The walls of the building are composed of very hard bricks. The staircase is in the centre of the building.

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