A history of the gardens of the Royal College of Physicians of London

Abstract

The Royal College of Physicians of London (RCP) was founded in the City of London in 1518 and at that time many of the royal, religious and lay residences had gardens. The gardens were used, among other things, to grow fruit trees, herbs for the kitchen and for strewing on the floor, and for leisure, with lawns, bowling and flowers. So it would have been natural for the RCP Fellows to wish to have a garden of their own. This was not possible until the College moved into its second and third homes in the City in 1614 and 1674 and good street plans of these sites, and of their gardens, have now become available, though we lack any details of the planting. The fourth home in Pall Mall East in 1815 was landlocked. Therefore when the fifth (and current) home in Regent's Park was opened in 1964 it was splendid to have a large garden, carefully designed, planted and recorded. In 2004 a wonderful transformation took place when the College created a modern physic garden showing the development of medicinal plants through the ages and in many parts of the world.

Fig 1.

Street plan on the Copperplate Map of 1558 showing the area around St Paul's Cathedral where the second home of the Royal College of Physicians was located. College building is shaded red, the garden is green and St Martin's Church is yellow.

Fig 2.

The College building at Amen Corner, no date given. It is likely that this picture was created from a written description and not made from direct observation of the building.

Fig 3.

The ground plan in 1653 of the second home of the College at Amen Corner. (A) City Wall (B) High Walk (C) garden (D) Harveian Library and Museum (E) garden entrance (F) reading room.

Fig 4.

Street plan of John Rocque's map of 1746 showing the third home of the College in Warwick Lane with the garden to the left. (A) Warwick Lane, (B) College.