Audio Slideshow: Kew's beautiful buildings

The world famous gardens at Kew in west London will celebrate their 250th birthday in 2009.

They began life in 1759, when Princess Augusta - the mother of King George III - started an ambitious nine acre garden around Kew Palace.

Today, covering 326 acres, the Royal Botanic Gardens are home to the world's largest living plant collection - with 30,000 species listed.

But the World Heritage Site is also home to more than 40 listed structures.

Take a tour with Kew's Curator Nigel Taylor.

Javascript and Flash plug-in required

Either the Flash plugin was not detected on your computer or the JavaScript features of your brower have been disabled.

To enable Javascript on your browser we recommend that you contact your computer support line.

There are no captions with this slideshow.
Music: Mozart, String Quartet No 1 - 4th movement.
Slideshow production by Paul Kerley.

Links

The BBC is not responsible for the content of external internet sites

FEATURES, VIEWS, ANALYSIS

Has China's housing bubble burst?

How the world's oldest clove tree defied an empire

Why Royal Ballet principal Sergei Polunin quit