The Worshipful Society of Apothecaries first established the Apothecaries Garden in 1673 on land leased from Sir John Danvers.

In 1712, Sir Hans Sloane bought the adjoining Manor of Chelsea from Charles Cheyne. A physician, naturalist, collector and president of The Royal Society, Sloane offered four acres of land on a lease to the Worshipful Society of Apothecaries. The payment was £5.00 a year in perpetuity – the Physic Garden still pays this amount to Sir Hans’s descendants.

Sir Hans worked as an apprentice in the Garden in the early 1680s when John Watts was Head Gardener. In 1684, Watts built the first greenhouse at Chelsea with underfloor heating. It proved a huge success with Sloane writing to John Ray the following March: ‘the artifices used by Mr. Watts had been very effectual for the preservation of his plants, insomuch that the winter, which was severe enough, has killed scarce any of his fine plants.’

After training as a doctor, Sir Hans travelled to Jamaica in 1687, as personal physician to the Governor of Jamaica, the 2^nd Duke of Albermarle. After the Duke’s death the following year from drink, Sir Hans returned to England bringing with him over 1000 specimens including cocoa beans and cinchona bark from which he extracted quinine to treat ailments. Sloane also promoted innoculation against smallpox and his collection of plants and artefacts became the foundation of the British Museum, Natural History Museum and the British Library.

Another source of Sloane’s fortune was his marriage in 1695 to the widow of sugar plantation owner Fulke Rose.

Philip Miller was appointed as Head Gardener in 1722 by Sir Hans. William Forsyth joined the Garden in 1771 and created the Pond Rockery.

In 1846, the Garden was managed by the Scottish plant hunter, Robert Fortune who made many changes to the gardens.

The City Parochial Foundation took over the running of the gardens from 1899 until 1983.

It is now run as a charity.