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HYLAND In 1760 a menagerie had been built as far as Isleworth, and in 1773 golden pheasants were sent from Longleat to join swans, geese, guinea fowl and ducks, and even a bear, with its own attendant servant! It was in the era of Queen Victoria's childhood, who stayed from time to time at Syon as a girl, that the most modern and radical additions to the Park were introduced. The 3 rd Duke of Northumberland was a passionate gardener, patronizing the influential botanist, John Claudius Loudon, who dedicated his Arboreteum et Fruticetum Britannicum to him, which included illustrations of trees growing at Syon. Exotic plants held a special fascination for the Duke, who set about rebuilding the nursery and kitchen gardens at Syon, and, from 1826 to 1827, had built the Great Conservatory, now the centerpiece of the garden. The Duke engaged architect Charles Fowler, designer of the covered market at Covent Garden, to design the new Conservatory, which has been described as a cross between an 18 th century orangery and a Victorian conservatory. The central building with its glass dome employed the latest wrought and cast iron and glass technology, while the side wings are characteristic of the old-style orangery. The Conservatory is constructed in Bath stone, worked by Thomas Cundy, and the metalwork and furnaces were engineered by James Richards of Birmingham.