18 October 2024
The ghost stories of Kew Gardens
Halloween pumpkin carving, trick or treating and spooky costume making are just around the corner, so we’re sharing some of our own ghost stories from Kew Gardens.
We’ve all heard of haunted houses but what about haunted gardens? With a history stretching back 250 years, Kew has its own legends, sightings and poltergeists, all recorded in our Archives’ notorious ‘Supernatural’ file.
So as the evenings draw in and shadows lengthen, settle in for some ghost stories from Kew’s past that are sure to send a shiver down your spine.
If you’re feeling brave enough, you can even go on your own ghost hunting adventure on Kew’s brand-new, Halloween trail.
The archives, ‘Kewensia’ and the 'Supernatural' file
The Archives at Kew Gardens are home to the official records of the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew. These contain information about the histories, discoveries, studies and uses of the world’s plants and fungi. Amongst these precious resources is a fascinating collection called 'Kewensia', which chronicles the centuries-long history of the Gardens.
The ‘Kewensia’ collection contains ephemeral materials such as leaflets, press cuttings, and even sheet music, all relating to the history or current work of Kew. Amongst these is the ‘Supernatural’ file.
The ‘Supernatural’ file includes a whole range of paranormal stories and encounters reported by Kew’s staff, including an article from 1974 entitled, ‘The Ghosts of the Royal Botanic Gardens.’
The article was written for a Kew newsletter by Dilly Clarke, a member of the now-defunct Museums Department, and brings together numerous tales from Kew’s colleagues about the mysterious and unexplainable phenomenon they have reported over the years.
Usually only accessible through visiting our Archives, we are sharing some of the true accounts reported in the ‘Supernatural’ file, here.
The curator in the Temperate House
Kew is home to five iconic glasshouses and conservatories but it’s the Gardens’ Temperate House that is reportedly occupied by a spirit.
The ghost of past assistant curator, Charlie Raffill, supposedly haunts this Victorian marvel, which is the largest glasshouse in the world. Reports say that his antics include opening and closing doors and turning on taps at random.
One member of staff felt his ghostly presence and said:
“You can sense there is someone standing beside you, and you can see something out of the corner of your eye, but as soon as you turn to look at it, there is nothing there.”
The royals in Kew Palace
Three members of the Royal Family not only spent part of their lives at Kew Palace; they died there too. These include the famous Queen Charlotte, who passed away in her bedroom on the first-floor of the building.
Two notable sightings are said to have taken place prior to the re-opening of the Palace in the spring. A worker who was renovating gold leaf in the first-floor drawing room caught “something white” moving across the back of the room from the corner of his eye.
Around a week later, another of the workers stripping paint near the King’s Library crossed through a corridor and spotted “somebody quite small dressed in a long dress who appeared to be holding a candle” at the far end.
In her article, Dilly Clarke suggests the supposed spirit could be the young Prince Octavius, who died at Kew in 1783 at only four years old. As was the style at the time, the boy would still have worn long skirts at the age of his passing.
The botanist in the Herbarium
While the Temperate House is the only glasshouse at Kew with a reported wraith, plenty of other buildings across the Gardens have ghost stories attached.
Kew’s Herbarium, established in 1853, is reported to have its own poltergeist.
The Victorian botanist and president of the Linnean Society, George Bentham, is thought to haunt a room where he worked in the building, with reports of the heavy fireirons rattling against the fender of the fireplace.
In another part of Kew, you will find the School of Horticulture. Today, it’s a world-leading centre of education but the building used to be home to ‘Museum No 2’.
Late one winter’s evening, a staff member was going up the stairs, when at the far end of the corridor he saw a woman in “blue crinoline type dress” facing him. In shock, he hurried back downstairs, but later plucked up the courage to return. Finding the woman still standing there, he walked towards her, but as he approached, she mysteriously disappeared.
The building was also reportedly home to “an atmosphere of evil”, with at least two people mentioning a feeling of pure panic that they had to escape from.
The footsteps in The Orangery
Now home to one of Kew’s cafes, The Orangery used to be the Gardens’ Wood Museum and was the location for a series of noisy encounters.
One summer afternoon when the museum had closed for the day, the curators reported hearing intense knocking throughout the building. Thinking someone had been locked in, they searched high and low through the museum, but the source of the commotion could not be found.
On another occasion, the knocking was said to be heard yet again but with no clear source becoming apparent. There was even a report of footsteps descending a staff staircase, but when checked, no perpetrator was to be seen.
The aliens in the wheat field
Not all the unexplainable stories come from so long ago. And not all of them are of the ghostly variety.
In 2002, a number of newspapers printed images of a giant crop circle which had appeared in the centre of a wheat field at the riverside end of the Gardens.
The circle measured nearly six metres across, was perfectly symmetrical, and had a floral design in the centre. Curiously, the wheat surrounding the design remained completely intact and the eight feet high walls that surrounded the Gardens were not reported to have been breached by the Royal Parks Constabulary.
Many theories were suggested, including a prank by that year’s horticultural students or a promotional stunt for the then-new to cinemas alien invasion film, Signs. Like so many of the supernatural stories from Kew, the truth remains a mystery.
The “unspeakable something”
As might be expected, there are countless other short anecdotes of unexplained occurrences from all across Kew Gardens.
The grounds of the Queen’s Cottage are reportedly the sight of a freak cold patch. Just entering through the gate would result in staff shivering, even on the warmest days.
The Holly Walk was also said to trigger feelings of “intense evil and oppression”. One member of staff supposedly wouldn’t go anywhere near it after dark because these feelings were so powerful.
Finally, the Kewensia supernatural file contains a one sentence mention of “the unspeakable something in the Rhododendron Dell”. With no further information offered, it seems like this entry truly is an unsolved mystery.
