We’ve just returned from a week in London, where we braved the extreme heat and visited some of the places on our wish list.
The first of those destinations was Chelsea Physic Garden, created in the mid seventeenth century. It’s the oldest botanic garden in London and is recognised as the second oldest apothecary garden in the UK. It’s also currently hosting the exhibition, ‘The Elixir of Letters’, with inscriptions and sculptures created by some of the UK’s foremost letter carvers.
The garden is situated close to the river in Chelsea. You’re surrounded by lots of buildings and hustle & bustle… yet on stepping through an unassuming gate on Swan Walk, you enter a place of beauty, calm & tranquillity. It’s almost like entering a secret world.
It was a place of collection, display, education and learning… as it still remains today. It houses about five thousand medicinal, herbal, edible and useful plants.
The quadrant layout would have been familiar to visitors hundreds of years ago…
…and Sir Hans Sloane still casts an eye out over the grounds!
We started our visit with a short guided tour, then had as much time as we wanted to explore ourselves.
We drifted through the garden, looking at the plants and tree specimens – along paths and through glasshouses. It’s such a lovely place to spend time.
Even on a seriously hot day there are lots of cool corners to sit down, rest or have a snack.
There’s also a lovely open, airy restaurant café to have drinks or lunch – and a small shop too.
We can thoroughly recommend the garden, both as a place of horticultural interest – and as a refuge from the busy city beyond the walls.
Our visit lasted about 3 hours. We had another ticket booked across town…otherwise we could have stayed all day!