Chelsea Physic Garden

The Chelsea Physic Garden hides behind a brick wall on the north bank of the Thames, and at its founding in 1673 it became London's oldest botanical garden and, after Oxford, the second oldest in England. The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries created it as a training ground where apprentices could identify medicinal plants. Under the 18th-century curator Philip Miller it gained international reputation: in 1732 cotton seeds were sent from here to Georgia, marking the start of the American cotton industry. Carl Linnaeus visited and took specimens home. Today about 5,000 edible, medicinal and useful plants are packed into 1.5 hectares of themed beds. A small rock garden is regarded as the oldest in Europe, and an olive tree fruits regularly, unusual at this latitude. A cafe and glasshouses round out the visit; opening hours are limited and entry is ticketed.