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The Old Laboratory

Step back in time inside the Old Laboratory and discover the early days of the RHS at Wisley

Visitor experience

  • Our history Opening the doors on a century of exploring and experimenting
  • Interactive exhibits Follow in the footsteps of horticultural students and scientists
  • Wisley Gallery Dig deeper into the past with temporary exhibitions from the RHS archives

Opening times: Daily, 10am – 5pm (last entry 4.30pm), admission is free upon entry to the garden

Wisley Gallery exhibitions

Nature’s Medicine: The Making of a Modern-Day Herbal

7 September 2024 – 30 April 2025
A new exhibition exploring the ways to harness the healing power of plants and gardens in our daily lives, through art, stories and poetry created by Walton Charity artists.

Read more about the exhibition

Discover the RHS Wisley story

Step inside the Old Laboratory and discover the previously hidden stories of RHS Garden Wisley’s rich past brought to life through interactive exhibits, weird and wonderful artefacts and the memories of students and staff who worked in the building and garden.

As the home of RHS Science for over a century, the Old Laboratory was instrumental in Wisley’s mission to conduct practical scientific research into ornamental horticulture and provide training for student gardeners. In 2021, when the RHS Science and Advisory teams and Herbarium moved to purpose-built facilities in RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science it opened the opportunity to welcome visitors into the Old Laboratory for the very first time and let the building reveal its stories.

Revealing the hidden past

Venture through a series of rooms, including the restored 1920s Townsend Lecture Theatre and wartime Advisory Office, each one exploring a distinct theme and time period in RHS Wisley’s fascinating history. Through vintage artefacts, images from the RHS Lindley Library and stories from the people who worked here, the evocative displays highlight how learning, teaching and experimentation at RHS Wisley helped shape gardens and gardening over the years – from Edwardian formality to today’s focus on the environment and wellbeing.

Before its revival, the Old Laboratory was crammed with old furniture and equipment, much of it hidden in cupboards, storerooms and attics. Staff from the Libraries team undertook the long task of cleaning, conserving and documenting this material, and also scoured the RHS archives to research the people who worked and studied in the Old Laboratory.

Explore highlights of the Old Laboratory
Learn about the many experiments conducted by RHS scientists at Wisley over the years. Marvel at curious scientific equipment used to study everything from soil structure to the life cycle of flea beetles. Keep an eye out for the mite-counting machine and original copper boiler used to ‘save the daffodil’.

Wolfson Laboratory

Learn about the many experiments conducted by RHS scientists at Wisley over the years. Marvel at curious scientific equipment used to study everything from soil structure to the life cycle of flea beetles. Keep an eye out for the mite-counting machine and original copper boiler used to ‘save the daffodil’.

Listen in as members of staff open a box sent to Wisley by plant collector Paul Furse from an expedition to Iran in 1962. See equipment used by collectors from the early 20th century and find out how our approach to plant collecting has changed over the years, with modern expeditions focussed on conservation and sharing knowledge with local communities.

Plant Collecting

Listen in as members of staff open a box sent to Wisley by plant collector Paul Furse from an expedition to Iran in 1962. See equipment used by collectors from the early 20th century and find out how our approach to plant collecting has changed over the years, with modern expeditions focussed on conservation and sharing knowledge with local communities.

On entering the lecture theatre, you’ll hear the voice of our first Director of the School of Horticulture, Mr Frank ‘Chitty’ Chittenden (played by an actor), delivering a lecture to students in 1921. As he outlines what students will study at Wisley, sit back on benches just as the first horticultural students did and watch slides displayed on a magic lantern.

Townsend Lecture Theatre

On entering the lecture theatre, you’ll hear the voice of our first Director of the School of Horticulture, Mr Frank ‘Chitty’ Chittenden (played by an actor), delivering a lecture to students in 1921. As he outlines what students will study at Wisley, sit back on benches just as the first horticultural students did and watch slides displayed on a magic lantern.

Move forward in time to 1943 to a busy office humming with the sound of typewriters and telephones as staff provide advice to gardeners in wartime. Find out how the RHS supported the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and encouraged people to grow fruit and veg to supplement food rations. Discover how information from RHS members was used to track the spread of new pests and diseases – work which continues today.

Advisory Office

Move forward in time to 1943 to a busy office humming with the sound of typewriters and telephones as staff provide advice to gardeners in wartime. Find out how the RHS supported the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and encouraged people to grow fruit and veg to supplement food rations. Discover how information from RHS members was used to track the spread of new pests and diseases – work which continues today.

Learn about the many experiments conducted by RHS scientists at Wisley over the years. Marvel at curious scientific equipment used to study everything from soil structure to the life cycle of flea beetles. Keep an eye out for the mite-counting machine and original copper boiler used to ‘save the daffodil’.

Wolfson Laboratory

Learn about the many experiments conducted by RHS scientists at Wisley over the years. Marvel at curious scientific equipment used to study everything from soil structure to the life cycle of flea beetles. Keep an eye out for the mite-counting machine and original copper boiler used to ‘save the daffodil’.

Listen in as members of staff open a box sent to Wisley by plant collector Paul Furse from an expedition to Iran in 1962. See equipment used by collectors from the early 20th century and find out how our approach to plant collecting has changed over the years, with modern expeditions focussed on conservation and sharing knowledge with local communities.

Plant Collecting

Listen in as members of staff open a box sent to Wisley by plant collector Paul Furse from an expedition to Iran in 1962. See equipment used by collectors from the early 20th century and find out how our approach to plant collecting has changed over the years, with modern expeditions focussed on conservation and sharing knowledge with local communities.

On entering the lecture theatre, you’ll hear the voice of our first Director of the School of Horticulture, Mr Frank ‘Chitty’ Chittenden (played by an actor), delivering a lecture to students in 1921. As he outlines what students will study at Wisley, sit back on benches just as the first horticultural students did and watch slides displayed on a magic lantern.

Townsend Lecture Theatre

On entering the lecture theatre, you’ll hear the voice of our first Director of the School of Horticulture, Mr Frank ‘Chitty’ Chittenden (played by an actor), delivering a lecture to students in 1921. As he outlines what students will study at Wisley, sit back on benches just as the first horticultural students did and watch slides displayed on a magic lantern.

Move forward in time to 1943 to a busy office humming with the sound of typewriters and telephones as staff provide advice to gardeners in wartime. Find out how the RHS supported the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and encouraged people to grow fruit and veg to supplement food rations. Discover how information from RHS members was used to track the spread of new pests and diseases – work which continues today.

Advisory Office

Move forward in time to 1943 to a busy office humming with the sound of typewriters and telephones as staff provide advice to gardeners in wartime. Find out how the RHS supported the ‘Dig for Victory’ campaign and encouraged people to grow fruit and veg to supplement food rations. Discover how information from RHS members was used to track the spread of new pests and diseases – work which continues today.

Science at the heart of horticulture

Delve deeper into the scientific research undertaken at RHS Wisley by decades of students and scientists to better understand plants and their potential. Science has always been at the heart of the RHS approach to horticulture.

In the Wolfson Laboratory, displays focus on three scientists in particular: the entomologist George Fox Wilson, the pioneering female scientist Dr E.K. Janaki Ammal, and James Kirkham Ramsbottom, who found the solution to a mysterious disease that threatened daffodil growers all over Europe. Try your hand at some of the experiments conducted by these scientists – examining the life cycle of whitefly, manipulating chromosomes and even ‘boiling’ daffodil bulbs.

Restoration and revival

The beautiful Grade II-listed Old Laboratory building is a familiar landmark at RHS Wisley – the symbolic core of the Wisley landscape. However, in recent years the building no longer provided adequate facilities for modern scientific research, and the collections previously housed here were at risk from issues such as damp and pest damage. To preserve this important part of our heritage, the building was in need of some love and attention.

The exterior of the building has been repaired and the new landscape to the front of the building forms an impressive vista as you arrive at RHS Wisley. Once hidden behind the old shop, the Old Laboratory’s striking front façade is framed by wildflower lawns and a series of topiary hedges inspired by RHS Wisley’s original garden design. The interior of the building has been carefully and sympathetically refurbished, with the reinstatement of original architectural features including the sloped lecture theatre floor.

Accessibility

We want to give as many people as possible the opportunity to enjoy The Old Laboratory at RHS Garden Wisley. For a complete guide on what to expect before you arrive, please see our The Old Laboratory ‘In more detail’ section on the accessibility page to guide your day.

See more accessibility information

National Lottery Heritage Fund

The National Lottery Heritage Fund awarded £4 million to support the transformation at RHS Wisley, with £1 million going towards the historic core of the Laboratory. The grant also helped build RHS Hilltop – The Home of Gardening Science, surrounding gardens and establish an inspirational programme of activities.

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The Royal Horticultural Society is the UK’s leading gardening charity. We aim to enrich everyone’s life through plants, and make the UK a greener and more beautiful place.