The building is largely the Victorian reconstruction of the Church of St Mary-at-Lambeth[2] which was deconsecrated in 1972 and was scheduled to be demolished. It is adjacent to Lambeth Palace on the south bank of the River Thames in London, on Lambeth Road. In 1976, John and Rosemary Nicholson traced the tomb of the two 17th-century royal gardeners and plant hunters John Tradescant the Elder and the Younger to the churchyard, and were inspired to create the Museum of Garden History.[3] It was the first museum in the world dedicated to the history of gardening.[4]