Photos of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens

The park takes its name from its origins as part of the Manor of Ebury when at that time its address was One Hide.
Hyde Park is one of the Royal Parks (owned by the monarchy) and is one of the most popular parks in London and covers an area of 350 acres. Wide open spaces, horse riding, bird sanctuary, snack bars, education centre (the Lookout), tennis courts, Bowling green, a gallery, boating (weather permitting March through October) and Kensington Place at its South West corner make this a great place to spend some time. Kensington Place and its grounds, Kensington gardens join seamlessly with Hyde Park and its not obvious where one begins and the other ends. There are over 4000 trees in the park.
In its past Hyde Park was a place for hunting deer, used as such by Henry VIII would took possession of the park in 1536 from the monks of Westminster Abbey. It wasn't until 1637 that the park was opened up to the public by Charles I. During the great plague of 1665 Londoners used the park as a temporary camp to isolate themselves from the plague.
The Serpentine Lake at the heart of the park was constructed in the 1730's by Queen Caroline. Since 1814 when Prince Regent held a fireworks exhibition as a celebration of the ending of the Napoleonic wars the park has been a venue for events in the capital. It was the original site for the Crystal Palace while Pop concerts and rallies are often held here. There is talk that the Notting Hill carnival may be extended or moved to the park. Roller blading has become very popular in Hyde Park and along with cycling is allowed on designated sections.
The North East corner is known as Speakers Corner and has its own particular history.
Traffic is allowed to use the park as a through route but this is limited. It is closed to all traffic between midnight and 5am and commercial traffic cannot use the park at any time.
The public road through Hyde Park which goes North/South is West Carriage Drive and it actually splits the park into two distinct sectors. On the east side is Hyde Park itself while on the West side is Kensington Gardens. If you were to walk through the park however you wouldn't even be aware of the difference as in reality its one large open space. Kensington Gardens is 275 acres in size.

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Photo number 11: Serpentine Gallery:
The Serpentine Gallery, situated in the heart of Kensington Gardens in a 1934 tea pavilion, was founded in 1970 by the Arts Council of Great Britain. Today the Gallery attracts over 400,000 visitors a year and is one of London's most loved places for seeing modern and contemporary art and architecture.
Opening Hours: Daily 10 am - 6 pm, closed: December 24, 25 26, 31, January 1,

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Photo number 29: Kensington Palace:
The Kensington Palace used to be home for Diana the late Princess of Wales. Housing the royal ceremonial dress collection it is surrounded by Kensington gardens with it's sunken gardens and the Queen Anne orangery. Located just off of Kensington High Street.
Opening Hours: March to October 10.00 to 17.00, November to February 10.00 to 16.00

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