[a] Bridget Cherry, in her London 2: South volume of the Buildings of England series, describes the pagoda as "this supreme example of chinoiserie".

[6] Augusta employed Sir William Chambers to construct a number of architectural features in the gardens, including temples,[7][8] a ruined arch[9] and the Great Pagoda.

Born in Sweden, although educated in England, Chambers enlisted with the Swedish East India Company making three voyages to China and Bengal in the 1740s.

[d][18] A 2013 study by The Georgian Group looked at possible Chinese models for the Great Pagoda, acknowledging that Chambers, unlike almost all of his contemporary architects, had been to China and therefore had a wider range of possible sources on which to draw.

[21] The speed of completion and the quality of construction were points of pride for Chambers; "the walls of the building are composed of very hard bricks...neatly laid, and with such care, that there is not the least crack or fracture in the whole structure, notwithstanding its great height, and the expedition with which it was built".

[e][23] The height of the building impressed contemporaries; in 1762, Horace Walpole wrote to a friend, "the Pagoda at Kew begins to rise above the trees and soon you will see it from Yorkshire".

[f][25] During the Second World War the pagoda was used as a munitions test site, with holes being opened up through each floor to allow smoke bombs to be dropped the height of the tower.