School of Pharmacy and the Royal Free Hospital

Image Credit: The son of Libereso Guglielmi near the poppy beds in the Pharmacy Garden. Guglielmi collection.

Narrator:

After Bowles died in 1954, the estate was sold to the School of Pharmacy and the Royal Free Hospital. The Kitchen Garden was turned into a medicinal garden for teaching and research. A comprehensive collection of plants was propagated and grown here. These provided live material for undergraduate research. The western end of the Potting Shed, which is now the gardeners’ rest room, was converted into a laboratory. From here plant material was delivered to the School of Pharmacy in London. The whole operation was kept secret because a number of poisons and drugs – including cannabis - were grown here. For 48 years this was the site of important research into pain relief.