The Great Pagoda, Kew Gardens, London, UK
Posted by: 
hykesj
N 51° 28.298 W 000° 17.773
30U E 687777 N 5705741
Inspired by the design of the Porcelain Pagoda at Nanjing, the Great Pagoda at Kew Gardens has stood on this spot since 1762.
Waymark Code: WMYPYG
Location: London, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 07/08/2018
Views: 3
Kew Gardens was established as a public entity in 1840. To mark its sesquicentennial, Great Britain issued a set of four stamps in 1990 each showing a stylized drawing of a building and a plant from the garden. This stamp (the high value of the set) shows a cedar tree and the Great Pagoda completed in 1762.
The Great Pagoda is a remnant of an eighteenth century “royal circuit,” a collection of sixteen structures at Kew (most of which no longer exist) representing architecture from around the world. Architect Sir William Chambers committed a bit of a breach of cultural etiquette by designing the Great Pagoda with ten stories – traditional Chinese pagodas have an odd number of stories, usually seven. Nevertheless, the Great Pagoda was considered one of the best representations of Chinese architecture in Europe at that time.
When originally built, the Great Pagoda was decorated with 80 gilded wooden dragons. These were removed in 1784 as part of a repair effort and subsequently lost to posterity. But now, thanks to a recent restoration program, they’re back! The Great Pagoda is scheduled to be re-opened in the summer of 2018 offering visitors willing to climb to the top, the same bird’s eye view of London as it did in the eighteenth century.
Stamp Issuing Country: Great Britain
Date of Issue: 5-Jun-1990
Denomination: 37p
Color: multicolored
Stamp Type: Single Stamp
Relevant Web Site: Not listed
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