BOTANIC GARDEN CREATION AND MANAGEMENT: THE FEASIBILITY AND DESIGN OF NEW BRITISH COLLECTIONS [On-line Edition] PhD Thesis University of Reading School of Plant Sciences James Furse-Roberts [email protected] June 2005 Abstract Introduction Chapter 1 - Overview of Botanic Gardens Chapter 2 - Survey of British Botanical Collections Chapter 3 - Case Studies of Selected Botanic Collections Chapter 4 - Discussion of Botanic Collections Elements Chapter 5 - Design & Interpretation Chapter 6 - Eden Project Case Study Chapter 7 - Market Research Chapter 8 - Carymoor Case Study Chapter 9 - Alternative Solutions Chapter 10 - Conclusion Bibliography Appendix Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 1 2 3 Case Studies of Selected Botanic Collections The previous chapter concluded by outlining the characteristics of the nine types of collection identified by the results of the botanical collections survey and identified three methods by which the collections in these groups obtain the majority of their funding (1 - government or local council, 2 - affiliated organisation, 3 - visitor admissions or sales). This chapter will examine the hypothesis that a collection’s history and its method of funding affect its character and roles. 3.1 Methodology The information included in the case studies of the ten botanical collections covered in this chapter was compiled from a variety of sources. These include the information gathered through the botanical collections survey (chapter 2), written material, including that on the organisations own website, and interviews with present or past members of staff. When possible, interviews took place at the interviewee’s place of work and, on average, lasted for one hour. They were conducted using what Robson (2002) defines as the ‘unstructured interview’ technique. This means that instead of using a set of predefined questions the interviewer starts the interview with a guide list of topics to be covered before the end of the interview. These topics varied depending on who was being interviewed and which collection they were associated with but all fell within the following areas; history of the collection, present management and funding, as well as the roles of the collection. The benefit of this style of interviewing is that it allows the interviewer to pick up and explore further items within the responses of the interviewees. This does mean that the results of every interview differ and it is therefore harder to use them for direct comparison or quantitative analysis but with such a small sample size recording the breadth of ideas held is more important. Ten collections were chosen as case studies for this section. For the purposes of this section the organisations were looked at as a whole, including satellite gardens if they have them. Four of these are botanic gardens (sensu stricto), four are university botanic gardens while the remaining two are examples of alternative approaches to holding botanical collections. Of the botanic gardens, The Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew and Edinburgh represent large government funded institutes; the National Botanic garden of Wales was included as it is one of the most recent attempts at establishing a botanical garden (the Eden Project is discussed separately in chapter 6). The Chelsea Physic Garden has been included as an example of an established non-government funded botanic garden. Of the four university botanic gardens, two, Oxford and Cambridge University Botanic Gardens, are representatives of those university botanic gardens that are open to the public and charge for entrance. Bristol University Botanic Garden is open to the public but does not charge for entrance while public access to the Harris Garden at the University of Reading is limited. The location of all the gardens discussed in this section and their satellite gardens are illustrated in Figure 3.1. © James Furse-Roberts 57 Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 Figure 3.1 - Map of Britain showing the location of those botanical collections reviewed in chapter 3 © James Furse-Roberts 58 Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 3.2 Botanic Gardens 3.2.1 Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, London Date Founded: 1759 Size: 324-hectares (800-acres) Annual Budget: £29,000,000 Number of Species: 30,000 Number of Visitors: 1,000,000 p.a. Kew Bedgebury Wakehurst Gardens Pinetum Place 1750 1759 1775 1800 1825 1850 1875 1900 1924 1950 1965 1975 2000 Figure 3.2 - Timeline showing the use of different gardens by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew Ray Desmond (1995) in his book ‘Kew: The History of the Royal Botanic Gardens’ gives a detailed account of the events at Kew between 1631 and 1994, from which the following synopsis was made. In addition to this interviews with Gail Bromley, head of education, and Katy Steel, from the interpretation unit, give an insight into how Kew delivers the educational section of its mission. 1759 - William Aiton recruited from Chelsea Physic Garden to manage the physic garden at Kew 1772 - Kew’s first collector, Francis Masson, sent to the Cape of South Africa 1789 - 1st edition of Index Kewensis published following Linnaean taxonomy 1838 - Government threatens Kew with closure 1840 - Threat of closure finally abated 1848 - First economic botany museum opened in what is now Museum No. II 1851 - The Pleasure Grounds, the area outside the botanic garden, starts to be converted into an arboretum. © James Furse-Roberts 59 Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 1858 - New acquisitions required the building of an additional museum, now Museum No. I 1916 - Mon, Wed, Thur, Sat Entrance charge1d, Student days Tue + Fri 6d Sunday Free 1924 - 1d Entrance charge abolished but 6d for student days maintained 1926 - 1d Entrance charge reintroduced 1929 - 1d Entrance charge abolished 1931 - 1d Entrance charge reintroduced 1938 - Standing Commission on Museums and Galleries recommend the abolition of 6d charge for student days 1944 - British flora extended with chalk garden on east side of the icehouse 1949 - Australian house gifted to Kew by the Australian Government following a visit their by the director. 1951 - Morton agreement divides the world between Kew and the National History Museum. Entrance charge increased to 3d; student day charge abolished 1957 - MAFF request that a Committee (Ashby Visiting Group) is set up to report on issues specifically affecting Kew. 1958 - Work done in preparation for the Royal visit in 1959 to celebrate Kew’s bicentenary 1959 - Royal visit to celebrate Kew’s bicentenary. Wood museum removed from the Orangery so that the latter could be returned to its original use. 1960 - First guide-lecturer appointed 1963 - Three-year diploma launched 1965 - Kew acquires the management of Wakehurst Place to extend the range of plants that could be grown. 1971 - Keeping plants in the Orangery was speeding up the spread of dry rot so it was converted into a visitor orientation centre. Scanning electron microscopes installed in 49 The Green and Jodrell. With decimalisation the 3d entrance charge became 1p. 1973 - Roof of temperate house became unsafe so it was closed to the public 1975 - Kew hosts their first conservation conference (Minter 2000) 1977 - Temperate house restoration begins improving the roof/heating and re-landscaping the interior. Plants replant geographically. Standing commission on museums and galleries approves the sitting of a new museum between the herbarium and Kew palace. © James Furse-Roberts 60 Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 1980 - Entrance charge 10p 1982 - Temperate house reopened to the public 1983 - Entrance charge 15p 1984 - Work begins on the Princess of Wales conservatory 1984 - On the 1st of April responsibility for the garden was passed from MAFF to the trustees 1985 - Work begins on the Banks building. Entrance charge 25p 1987 - Princess of Wales Conservatory opens to the public. Entrance charge 50p 1986 - Kew ceases to be the intermediate quarantine station 1989 - Entrance charge £1 1990 – Prof. Prance set up Kew Foundation whose sole objective is to raise money for Kew (£2million a year). Entrance charge £3. Banks building opened 1992 - Entrance charge £3.30 1993 - Entrance charge £3.50 1994 - Entrance charge £4. Kew commissioned its first television commercial. Evolution House opened. 2005 – Entrance charge adults £10, children up to and including 16 years free (RBG Kew Website 2005) The Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, is not the oldest botanic garden in Britain but is probably the best known and certainly has the largest annual budget. Kew’s collection is held at two sites; Kew Gardens, located in Richmond, Surrey, consists of 136-hectares (336-acres) and Wakehurst Place, Kew’s satellite garden in West Sussex, has 188-hectares (465-acres). As is shown in the chronological history above, Kew gardens carries a royal title because it originated from a private garden in a royal palace. This origin, as a private garden that later took on a more public role, makes it difficult to place a date on the garden’s foundation. However, the commonly accepted date is 1759, the year in which William Aiton was recruited from the Chelsea Physic Garden to manage a small area of the palace grounds referred to as the physic garden. As has been described in the first chapter of this thesis, the first half of the eighteenth century was a transitional period between the old physic garden style and the new taxonomic and imperial gardens. The physic garden at Kew was not untouched by these changes and within its first thirty years had sent out plant collecting expeditions, arranged its collection taxonomically and created a catalogue of the species held. In 1771 Joseph Banks was returned from his voyage with Captain Cook on the Endeavour with many new species, which were presented to the King. This marks the beginning of Banks’s role as advisor to the King George III and the start of his role in “making it [Kew] a central © James Furse-Roberts 61 Botanic Garden Creation & Management Chapter 3 clearing house for an imperial trade in agricultural development” (Fara 2003).