Kew Palace at Kew Gardens and a copy of the Verrochio's Boy with Dolphin fountain
Kew Palace is the smallest and most intimate of the royal palaces. The four-storey brick house was built c. 1631 by Samuel Fortrey, a merchant of Dutch origin, whose initials together with those of his wife Catherine, can be seen above the entrance. It is constructed of red bricks laid in a style known as Flemish bond, consisting of bricks arranged with sides and ends alternating. The gabled main front gives the house a Dutch appearance. Later alterations included the installation of sash windows to replace the original brick mullions and transforms. First used by the Royal Family in 1728, the Palace was finally purchased by George III in 1781 as an annex to the White House (located where the sundial now stands) to accommodate his expanding family. Subsequently, it became a more permanent home for the Royal Family, and King George IV was born here. Queen Charlotte, died here in 1818. The Queen's Garden is a seventeenth-century-style garden situated behind Kew Palace. At one time, the site was not cultivated because the area was regularly flooded by the River Thames. In 1959, Sir George Taylor, then the Director of the Gardens, decided to create a garden whose style matched that of the palace. Work began in 1963 and, in 1969, the Garden was officially opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II. The main feature of the garden is the parterre in front of the palace. In the centre of the parterre is a rectangular pond which houses a copy of the cast of Verrochio's Boy with Dolphin - the original is in the Palazzo Vecchio in Florence.
Size: 5110px × 3407px
Location: Kew Gardens, London
Photo credit: © Bruce McGowan / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
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