Our next visit (the last one before our trip to Chichester Festival Theatre in July), takes us to the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew. This summer, in addition to its must-see seasonal highlights, Kew provides the setting for a once-in-a-generation display of artworks by Henry Moore (1898-1986), one of the most important British artists of the 20th century and arguably the most internationally celebrated sculptor of the period.
'Henry-Moore: Monumental Nature' is the largest outdoor exhibition of Moore’s work ever presented, featuring over 100 pieces, including 30 monumental sculptures set across Kew’s 320-acre UNESCO World Heritage site and inside the iconic Temperate House, the largest surviving Victorian glasshouse in the world. A further 70 works on paper, models and smaller pieces are displayed in the Shirley Sherwood Gallery of Botanical Art.
Almost two decades since its last major exhibition dedicated to Henry Moore, Kew is collaborating again with the Henry Moore Foundation. This landmark exhibition, which runs from 9 May 2026 to 31 January 2027, offers a fresh perspective on Moore’s lifelong engagement with natural forms and materials and gives visitors a rare chance to experience the awe-inspiring scale and beauty of Moore’s works, which blur the boundaries between sculpture and living form. Moore preferred to work outdoors and saw the landscape as the ideal setting for his work. Nature was always central to his artistic life.
The exhibition at Kew is part of a dual-site celebration across the Royal Botanic Gardens, with a separate experience at Wakehurst, Kew’s wild botanic garden in Sussex, from 5 June through to 27 September 2026 (you can find more about this on the Kew website).
This year, Kew has seen the best spring of the last ten years due to the wettest and warmest winter on record, resulting in spectacular spring blossoms, but experts warn that they signal a worrying climate trend. Looking to the future, the innovative Carbon Garden, which opened last September, showcases Kew’s ongoing research to highlight the role of carbon in our lives, and reveal how plants and fungi can help us to tackle climate change.
We will travel to Kew by coach. We have also arranged guided walking tours (at a leisurely pace!) that will shed light on Moore’s monumental works.
To find out more about Kew Gardens and the current exhibition, follow this link.
Click here for a short introductory film by the Henry Moore Foundation about Moore’s human landscapes.
Moore was also a key figure in the British Surrealist movement during the 1930s. Antony Penrose, son of Roland Penrose and Lee Miller, shares personal insights into their artistic encounters here.
Maps of Kew Gardens, including accessibility maps, can be downloaded from the DOCUMENTS section below.
Planned programme for the day: timings at Kew TBC
9.00: Depart Hop Oast
10.30: Coach drop-off at Elizabeth Gate, Kew Gardens
Time to have tea/coffee at the Orangery Terrace and have a look around
12.00 prompt: Guided tours (90 minutes) start from the Orangery Terrace
13.30 – 16.30: Explore the gardens at your leisure
16.30: Coach departs for home
18.00: Arrive Horsham
Cost: £60 pp (£34 for Kew members). This includes coach hire + gratuity, entrance to Kew Gardens + a 90-minute private guided tour of Moore’s main large-scale sculptures.
Please note: Accessible toilets are within easy reach of all the main attractions, cafés and gates. Given the layout of the current Henry Moore exhibition, Kew is unable to accommodate mobility scooters or buggies. However, manual wheelchairs for visitors to use on arrival can be provided. If you have any special requirements, please contact the Visits Secretary, Vivien Smith.
