The Medicinal Garden

This is the remarkable Royal College of Physician's herb garden

Location: 1-11 St Andrews Place and Peto Place, NW1 4LE

Description: The Royal College of Physician's moved to this newly-designed building (architect: Sir Denys Lasdun) in 1964 and it was extended again in 1996. It's the oldest medical college in the world having been founded in 1518 by a charter from Henry VIII.

The gardens are all stocked with over 1,300 medicinal plants from around the world. Shrubs and trees come from ancient Greece, Rome, other Europe, the Middle East, the countries of the southern hemisphere, North America, and Asia.

If you get the chance to see the garden, and it's not open to the public except on special open days, don't miss the plane tree.

The graceful plane tree in the centre of the lawn is a descendant of the tree under which Hippocrates taught his medical students on the island of Cos 2,400 years ago.

Tours: The Herbalist Tour of London

Themes: Nature Nature Theme