London Butterfly Gardens (Main Glasshouse), Hall Place

Hall Place is a manor built between 1537 and 1540 for Sir John Champneys, a former Lord Mayor of London. The walled kitchen garden beside it already appears on an estate plan of 1700, according to Historic England's register of parks and gardens, which notes that until the late twentieth century it had a good range of glasshouses, some of them heated. Parks & Gardens UK quotes a state of 1885 in which the kitchen garden, on the site of the present nursery, contained vineries, hot houses and cucumber houses heated by hot water, along with forcing pits; the present glasshouses were installed there in 1987. In 1997 the register describes beds of varied layouts in their place and a large heated Palm House open to visitors.

Bexley Council bought the estate in 1935 and opened the gardens to the public in 1952. Bexley Heritage Trust managed it with the council until April 2017, when maintenance reverted to the council. The London Parks & Gardens inventory records a "Butterflies Jungle" and a plant shop on the site in 2019; the council refers to a previous offer that is much smaller.

In 2024 the operator London Butterfly Gardens, which had secured the contract in February, took over the renovated Main Glasshouse. The butterfly house opened on 10 July 2024 and was officially inaugurated on 6 August. The council states that the site's old butterfly house is being turned into The Living World. Londonist presents the whole as one of only three butterfly houses in London.

The Main Glasshouse sits in the former walled kitchen garden, about 100 m east of the manor according to Historic England's register, now occupied by a nursery. Parks & Gardens UK states only that the kitchen garden's present glasshouses were installed in 1987.

The 2024 renovation covered, according to the council, the pond and waterfall, which were repaired, new planting areas, and the entrance area, refitted as a shop. The operator describes a "tropical flight area" whose temperature and humidity are controlled and monitored: 28 °C and 75 to 80% humidity, conditions that suit the butterflies and the plants they feed on and lay eggs on. On the site, the former butterfly house now holds The Living World.

The operator advertises hundreds of tropical butterflies flying freely. Londonist names among them Giant Atlas Moths and glasswing butterflies, so called for their translucent wings. The tropical plants and flowers of the glasshouse give the insects nectar and egg-laying sites; the visit explains the butterfly life cycle and the insects' role in the ecosystem.

The Living World gathers in the former butterfly house stick and leaf insects, praying mantids, jungle nymphs, katydids, spiders and leaf-cutting ants. A shop at the entrance sells local crafts, gardening supplies and butterfly-themed souvenirs. Before the renovation, visitors' photographs (one dated March 2016) show cacti, flowers and terrapins in a glasshouse on the site.

Hall Place's gardens are free; the butterfly house needs a separate ticket, valid for the whole day with in-and-out access. It lies in the glasshouses of the former kitchen garden, behind the Stone Arch Gate, which closes earlier than the gardens. The Jambs Owls Experience is next door.

The visit combines easily with the Visitor Centre, the café beside the River Cray, the Queen's Beasts topiary planted in 1953 and, by booking, a guided tour of the Tudor house. The glasshouse is tropical and heated, so it suits any month, winter included, as the operator stresses, presenting it as an escape from cold weather.