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.
