Kew Palace

Kew Palace is a British royal palace in Kew Gardens on the banks of the Thames up river from London. There have been at least three palaces at Kew, and two have been known as Kew Palace; the first building may not have been known as Kew as no records survive other than the words of another courtier. One palace survives and is open to visitors. Grade I listed, it is cared for by an independent charity, Historic Royal Palaces, which receives no funding from the Government or the Crown.

The first Kew Palace

Not much is known of this building except that Queen Elizabeth I gave it to Robert Dudley, her childhood friend and court favourite. A letter from another of Elizabeth's courtiers suggests this to have been Dudley's main home near London; it may also have been called Leicester House.

The second Kew Palace

The so-called 'Old Palace', sometimes referred to as the Dutch House, was built in 1631 by Samuel Fortrey, the father of author Samuel Fortrey.

The building formerly belonged to the Smith family, and by marriage became the property of Samuel Molyneux, Esq., secretary to George II.

Kew

Coordinates: 51°29′01″N 0°16′41″W / 51.4837°N 0.2780°W / 51.4837; -0.2780

Kew is a suburban district in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, 1.5 miles (2.4 km) north-east of Richmond and 7.1 miles (11.4 km) west by south-west of Charing Cross; its population at the 2011 Census was 11,436.

Kew is the location of the Royal Botanic Gardens ("Kew Gardens"), now a World Heritage Site, which includes Kew Palace. Kew is also the home of important historical documents such as Domesday Book, which is on public display at The National Archives.

Successive Tudor, Stuart and Georgian monarchs maintained links with Kew. During the French Revolution, many refugees established themselves there and it was the home of several artists in the 18th and 19th centuries.

Since 1965 Kew has incorporated the former area of North Sheen which includes St Philip and All Saints, the first barn church consecrated in England. It is now in a combined Church of England ecclesiastical parish with St Luke's Church, Kew.

Kew Gardens (LIRR station)

Kew Gardens is a station on the Main Line of the Long Island Rail Road in Kew Gardens, Queens. The station is located at Austin Street and Lefferts Boulevard. One of Kew Garden station's unique features is the 119th Street (Lefferts Boulevard) Bridge which has one story commercial buildings on both sides for local businesses.

History

Kew Gardens station originally opened in May 1879, however a Brooklyn Daily Eagle article points out that the station was not finished as of May, and others claim it was opened on December 6, 1879 as Maple Grove, a flag stop solely to give access to Maple Grove Cemetery. Using today's landmarks (which did not exist then), the Station was located in back of the Mowbray and Kew Gardens Plaza Apartments. A letter to THE LONG ISLAND FORUM, Vol 4 (Dec. 1941) says, "In 1897, I was a locomotive fireman on the L.I.R.R. and at that time the main line of the road between Jamaica and Long Island City was a single track road ... located about 150 or 200 ft. to the east of the present tracks which pass through ... Kew Gardens. A flag station known as Maple Grove was the only station between Jamaica and [Elmhurst]. This track was mostly used by freight trains except in commuting hours when some passenger trains ran over it." [John Tooker, Babylon, LI.] The station was closed in 1882, reopened in 1883, and removed in 1909 as part of the Maple Grove track realignment project.

Kew (disambiguation)

Kew is a place in the London Borough of Richmond upon Thames, UK.

Kew may also refer to:

Places

Geography

Electoral districts

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