Sir William Chambers: The Mastermind Behind London’s Somerset House and the Enchanting Great Pagoda at Kew
This botanical history post was featured on The Daily Gardener podcast:
February 23, 1723
Dearest reader,
On this day, we celebrate the birth of Sir William Chambers, Swedish-Scottish architect extraordinaire, whose visionary contributions to London’s grandeur and Kew’s whimsical drama continue to dazzle modern garden lovers and society at large.
Chambers is perhaps best remembered for designing the imposing Somerset House on the Strand—its graceful facades and stately presence a paean to artistic ambition and practical elegance.
But it was at Kew, beneath the gaze of Princess Augusta, that Chambers’ garden imagination truly reached its zenith with the creation of the Great Pagoda in 1761.
Can you picture it—ten stories high, constructed of grey brick, an eastern gift nestled among English greenery, completed in just six months through the energy and determination that only great visionaries possess?
Originally crowned with eighty glittering golden dragons, the Pagoda became the talk of the town as mysterious rumors swirled about their fate.
By 1784, the dragons had vanished, with some speculating they were sacrificed to satisfy the Prince Regent's infamous gambling debts.
Was it scandal, or simply the relentless march of time and weather that stole these creatures away?
The true answer remains as shadowy as the pagoda’s nooks and recesses.
Chambers’s admiration for Chinese gardens was more than a fleeting fancy—it became a central theme of his career. Venturing to China three times in the 1740s, he returned not only with memories but with ideas that would inspire his landmark publication, Dissertation on Oriental Gardening. In his musings from “Of the Art of Laying Out Gardens Among the Chinese,” he marveled: “Nature is their pattern, and their aim is to imitate her in all her beautiful irregularities.” He noted the absence of straight lines, the delight in weeping willows trailing over water, and a penchant for hiding beauty to spark the spectator’s curiosity.
What modern garden lover hasn’t felt the thrill of a hidden bloom or a winding path leading to secrets untold?
Chambers wrote,
“The Chinese artists, knowing how powerfully contrast operates on the mind, constantly practice sudden transitions, and a striking opposition of forms, colors, and shades.”
Such artistry elevates gardens from mere outdoor decor to true theatre, where every stroll can be surprising and seductive. His observations about rivers (“seldom straight, but serpentine”), cascades, and cleverly planted trees inspire us to break free from rigid formality in favor of nature’s playful choreography.
Is it not intriguing—the way Chambers’ ideas about curiosity, contrast, and concealment continue to echo in today’s garden design schools?
Might his passion urge gardeners to embrace surprise and secrecy rather than symmetry and predictability?
The tale of the Great Pagoda found its happy conclusion in 2018, after a magnificent 12-year renovation. On July 13th, garden lovers witnessed the return of all eighty dragons, perched and dazzling once more—but this time, ingeniously crafted from nylon with the marvels of 3D printing, while the largest still claim cedar as their home. Chambers’ pagoda stands revived, a monument to fantasy, tradition, and modern inventiveness.
Is there a lesson here for every artist and gardener—that even the wildest dreams and lost treasures can rise again?
