Tag Archives: kew

Queen Caroline & Merlin’s Cave

In her 2010 book Courtiers: The Secret History of the Georgian Court, Lucy Worsley called Caroline  “the cleverest queen consort ever to sit on the throne of England”. Last week’s post about her Hermitage at Richmond was quite serious, dealing with religious and political controversy … Continue reading

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Queen Caroline & her Hermitage

In the 1720s and 1730s the gardens at Richmond Lodge (now part of Kew Gardens)were the “special domain” and “spiritual oasis” of a remarkable and underestimated woman who created a carefully staged landscape that was renowned throughout the country and … Continue reading

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The Great Geranium Robbery… part 2…and other plant thefts

This post is a continuation of last week’s, and is the  second half of the account of the trial of Charles Fairfield  in 1795 on charges of the theft of rare plants from Daniel Grimwood’s nursery in Kensington…. and then I’ve also  taken … Continue reading

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The Great Geranium Robbery…

It’s not everyday that plant theft gets prosecuted or even really hits the headlines. BUT in 1795 there was a fascinating case that reached the Old Bailey and pitted a leading London nurseryman who dealt in exotic new imports against a … Continue reading

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Almost everyone’s least favourite tree…

Shouldn’t be too hard to decide what that is!  Horror stories abound – and it must be one of the few plants ever legislated about. Yet it all started out innocuously enough on a beautiful country estate in Mid-Wales in the 1880s. … Continue reading

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