Glasgow, A View On The Kelvin 1897

Photo ref: 39758

More about this scene

The chair of Botany was instituted in 1818, and the first professor was Sir William Hooker, later Director of Kew Gardens. The Royal Botanic Society of Glasgow was founded a year later; the first botanic gardens were at Sandyford, but they moved to their present site in 1839- 42. For almost half a century ordinary members of the public paid a penny to gain admission, but in 1891, when the burgh of Hillhead was annexed by the city, the Botanic Gardens were transferred to the Parks Trustees and became a public park. Its chief landmark is the Kibble Palace, which originally stood in the grounds of John Kibble's country mansion on the shores of Loch Long. He offered it to the city in 1871, but the Corporation rejected the offer (allegedly because of the nude statuary that adorned it), so Kibble offered it to the Botanic Society, and it was formally inaugurated in 1873. In its earlier years the Kibble Crystal Art Palace was the venue for many important events and regular concerts, but in 1881 it reverted to being a conservatory for exotic plants. However, it was one of the venues for the World Orchid Conference, held at Glasgow in 1993. In 2004 it was dismantled, and when it is repaired and expanded in 2006, it is hoped that it will again be used for public functions.