EW GARDENS has a multi-layered history. Its varied roles as a royal retreat, landscaped park, exotic plant collection, international botanical institution and place of public education, relaxation and enjoyment of floral and arboreal splendour, have involved a succession of important names. To cite William Kent, William Aiton, Sir Joseph Banks, Decimus Burton, Richard Turner and Sir William Hooker barely scratches the surface. However, in the 300th year of his birth, it’s fitting to remember Sir William Chambers (1723–96), the creator of the great Pagoda and a major figure in the ornamentation
