Botanic Gardens has a Tropical Ravine (built in 1887) and a Victorian Palm house (built in 1839)as well as beautiful rose gardens, colourful flowerbeds, variety of trees, all of which combine to provide an exotic environment. Only a few minutes(5-10)walk from the city centre it really is a place of beauty an refuge in the midst of a busy city. A place to lose yourself in a busy day! And perhaps if - although not likely - you could find yourself a spot to sunbathe, although in beautiful green ireland youre more likley to rainbathe! Botanic Gardens is located beside The Queen's University of Belfast and Ulster Museum on the Stranmillis Road in Belfast both of which are well worth a visit.
The Palm House is one of the earliest examples of a curvilinear and cast iron glasshouse. The foundation stone of the Belfast Palm House was laid on 22 June 1839 by the Marquis of Donegall at a ceremony at which no intoxicating drink was provided. By the following year the two wings, each 65 feet long, 20 feet high and 20 feet wide had been completed at a cost of £1,400. The cast iron frames and the actual construction were the work of Richard Turner of the Hammersmith Works, Ballsbridge, Dublin who later built the Great Palm House at Kew Gardens and the glazing was done by Walker of Dublin and The designer of the Belfast Palm House was Charles Lanyon who was made a director of the Company in 1861. Over the years, the Palm House has acquired a reputation for good plant collections. Even if it is a wet day it is well worth a visit because it is warm and dry! The cool wing houses all year round displays of colour and scent using plants such as geranium, fuschia, begonia and bulb displays. The stove wing and dome area contain a range of temperate and tropical plants with particular emphasis on species of economic value. There are many beautiful tropical plants, the smell of beautiful flowers and the sound of flowing water! The floorwork in the dome area is most interesting with an iron grating and tiles either side, at an angle - because of eronious planning!
The Tropical Ravine House, formerly known as The Glen is a rectangular house is uniquely constructed in that the whole of the interior, with the exception of a pond at one end, is taken up by a sunken ravine so that the visitor walks round what is in effect a balcony and looks down into a moist valley filled with tropical plants. The basic construction, much of which Charles M'Kimm did with his own hands, was completed in 1886. On entering the door past a column of basalt the 5,000 people who paid the entrance fee of a few pennies in 1890 saw below them a sunken glen of red sandstone scattered with patches of limestone and lumps of quartz. A small stream cascaded into a shallow pool in which two fountains played. Burbridge of the Trinity College Botanic Garden stated that it was one of the finest and most artistically arranged of all the fern houses in Europe. 'I have never seen', he commented, 'so fine and satisfying a collection of ferns, bamboos, mosses and climbing and trailing plants under a glass roof before'. Burbridge was particularly pleased by a nine-feet long by three-feet-wide bank of Killarney ferns, and observed that there were probably more Killarney ferns growing there than could be found in Killarney!
The rose garden and herbaceous borders were established in 1920. The plants grow in a sunken glen overlooked by a balcony.Free access always to gardens.
Palm House and Ravine are open April-Sept: Mon-Fri 10 am-5 pm Sat-Sun & bank/public hols 2-5 pm Oct-March: Mon-Fri 10 am-4 pm Sat-Sun & bank/public hols 2-4 pm And best of all - free admission!
The gardens are open all year from dawn top dusk, but i wouldnt recommend a wet day for going unless youre a duck!
Quack Quack.
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Jul 28th, 2003
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