The park was established byHenry VIII in 1536 when he took the land fromWestminster Abbey and used it as a hunting ground. It opened to the public in 1637 and quickly became popular, particularly forMay Day parades. Major improvements occurred in the early 18th century under the direction ofQueen Caroline. The park also became a place forduels during this time, often involving members of the nobility. In the 19th century, theGreat Exhibition of 1851 was held in the park, for whichThe Crystal Palace, designed byJoseph Paxton, was erected.
To the west, Hyde Park merges withKensington Gardens. The dividing line runs approximately between Alexandra Gate to Victoria Gate via West Carriage Drive and the Serpentine Bridge. TheSerpentine is to the south of the park area.[5] Kensington Gardens has been separate from Hyde Park since 1728, whenQueen Caroline divided them. Hyde Park covers 142 hectares (351 acres),[6] and Kensington Gardens covers 111 hectares (274 acres),[7] giving a total area of 253 hectares (625 acres).[a] During daylight, the two parks merge seamlessly into each other, but Kensington Gardens closes at dusk, and Hyde Park remains open throughout the year from 5 a.m. until midnight.[3]
The park's name comes from the Manor of Hyde, which was the northeast sub-division of the manor ofEia (the other two sub-divisions were Ebury and Neyte) and appears as such in theDomesday Book.[8] The name is believed to be of Saxon origin, and means a unit of land, thehide, that was appropriate for the support of a single family and dependents.[9] Through theMiddle Ages, it was property ofWestminster Abbey, and the woods in the manor were used both for firewood and shelter forgame.[8]
Hyde Park was created for hunting by Henry Vlll in 1536 after he acquired the manor of Hyde from the Abbey.[10] It was enclosed as adeer park and remained a private hunting ground untilJames I permitted limited access to gentlefolk, appointing a ranger to take charge.[11] In 1612, walks were replanted with two hundredlime trees imported from the Low Countries and ponds were repaired. The work was supervised byWalter Cope.[12] In October 1619, keepers directed by Sir Thomas Watson ambushed deer poachers with hail shot, and the poachers killed a keeper.[13]
Charles I created the Ring (north of the present Serpentine boathouses), and in 1637 he opened the park to the general public.[14] It quickly became a popular gathering place, particularly for May Day celebrations. At the start of theEnglish Civil War in 1642, a series of fortifications were built along the east side of the park, including forts at what is nowMarble Arch,Mount Street andHyde Park Corner. The latter included a strongpoint where visitors to London could be checked and vetted.[5]
In 1652, during theInterregnum, Parliament ordered the then 620-acre (250 ha) park to be sold for "ready money". It realised £17,000 with an additional £765 6s 2d for the resident deer.[15][16] Following theRestoration of the Monarchy in 1660,Charles II resumed ownership of Hyde Park and enclosed it with a brick wall. He restocked deer in what is now Buck Hill in Kensington Gardens. The May Day parade continued to be a popular event;Samuel Pepys took part in the park's celebrations in 1663 while attempting to gain the King's favour.[17]During theGreat Plague of London in 1665, Hyde Park was used as a military camp.[5]
In 1689,William III moved his residence toKensington Palace on the far side of Hyde Park and had a drive laid out across its southern edge which was known as the King's Private Road. The drive is still in existence as a wide straight gravelled carriage track leading west fromHyde Park Corner across the southern boundary of Hyde Park towards Kensington Palace and now known asRotten Row, possibly a corruption ofrotteran (to muster),[8]Ratten Row (roundabout way),Route du roi, orrotten (the soft material with which the road is covered).[18] It is believed to be the first road in London to be lit at night, which was done to deterhighwaymen. In 1749,Horace Walpole was robbed while travelling through the park fromHolland House.[19] The row was used by the wealthy for riding in the early 19th century.[20]
The work was completed in 1733. The2nd Viscount Weymouth was made Ranger of Hyde Park in 1739 and shortly after began digging the Serpentine lakes atLongleat.[26] Apowder magazine was built north of the Serpentine in 1805.[19]
Hyde Park, 1890, byCamille Pissarro, showing the footpath along the southern bank of the Serpentine
Hyde Park hosted a Great Fair in the summer of 1814 to celebrate theAllied sovereigns' visit to England, and exhibited various stalls and shows. TheBattle of Trafalgar was re-enacted on the Serpentine, with a band playing the National Anthem while the French fleet sank into the lake. The coronation ofKing George IV in 1821 was celebrated with a fair in the park, including anair balloon and firework displays.[19]
The Hyde Park Lido sits on the south bank of the Serpentine. It opened in 1930 to provide improved support for bathing and sunbathing in the park, which had been requested by thenaturist group, the Sunlight League. The Lido and accompanying Pavilion was designed by the Commissioner of Works,George Lansbury, and was half funded by a £5,000 (now equivalent to £399,000) donation from Major Colin Cooper (1892–1938). It still sees regular use in the summer.[29][30]
Hyde Park has been a major venue for several Royal jubilees and celebrations. For theGolden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887, a party was organised on 22 June where around 26,000 school children were given a free meal as a gift. The Queen and the Prince of Wales made an unexpected appearance at the event. Victoria remained fond of Hyde Park in the final years of her life and often drove there twice a day.[31]
TheWinter Wonderland festival has been a popular Christmas event in Hyde Park since 2007.
On 20 July 1982, aProvisional Irish Republican Armybomb killed four soldiers and seven horses.[35] A memorial was constructed to the left of the Albert Gate to commemorate the soldiers and horses killed in the blast.[36]
Since 2007, Hyde Park has played host to the annualWinter Wonderland event, which features numerous Christmas-themed markets, along with various rides and attractions, alongside bars and restaurants. It has become one of the largest Christmas events in Europe, having attracted over 14 million visitors as of 2016,[37] and has expanded to include the largest ice rink in London, live entertainment and circuses.[38]
On 18 September 2010, Hyde Park was the setting for a prayer vigil withPope Benedict XVI as part of hisvisit to the United Kingdom, attended by around 80,000 people. A large crowd assembled along the Mall to see the Pope arrive for his address.[39][40] An attempt to assassinate the Pope had been foiled after five people dressed as street cleaners were spotted within a mile of Hyde Park, and arrested along with a sixth suspect.[41] They were later released without charge as police said they posed no credible threat.[42]
During the late 18th century, plans were made to replace the old toll gate at Hyde Park Corner with a grander entrance, following the gentrification of the area surrounding it. The first design was put forward byRobert Adam in 1778 as a grand archway, followed byJohn Soane's 1796 proposal to build a new palace adjacent to the corner in Green Park.[43]
Following the construction ofBuckingham Palace, the improvement plans were revisited. The grand entrance to the park at Hyde Park Corner was designed byDecimus Burton, and was constructed in the 1820s.[43] Burton laid out the paths and driveways and designed a series of lodges, the Screen/Gate at Hyde Park Corner (also known as the Grand Entrance or the Apsley Gate) in 1825[19] and theWellington Arch, which opened in 1828.[44] The Screen and the Arch originally formed a single composition, designed to provide a monumental transition between Hyde Park and Green Park, although the arch was moved in 1883. It originally had a statue of the Duke of Wellington on top; it was moved toAldershot in 1883 when the arch was re-sited.[44]
"It consists of a screen of handsome flutedIonic columns, with three carriage entrance archways, two-foot entrances, a lodge, etc. The extent of the whole frontage is about 107 ft (33 m). The central entrance has a bold projection: the entablature is supported by four columns; and the volutes of the capitals of the outside column on each side of the gateway are formed in an angular direction, so as to exhibit two complete faces to view. The two side gateways, in their elevations, present two insulated Ionic columns, flanked by antae. All these entrances are finished by a blocking, the sides of the central one being decorated with a beautiful frieze, representing a naval and military triumphal procession. This frieze was designed by Mr. Henning, junior, the son ofMr. Henning who was well known for his models of theElgin Marbles. The gates were manufactured byMessrs. Bramah. They are of iron, bronzed, and fixed or hung to the piers by rings of gun-metal. The design consists of a beautiful arrangement of theGreek honeysuckle ornament; the parts being well defined, and the raffles of the leaves brought out in a most extraordinary manner."[45]
The Wellington Arch was extensively restored byEnglish Heritage between 1999 and 2001. It is now open to the public, who can see a view of the parks from its platforms above the porticoes.[44]
Flowers were first planted in Hyde Park in 1860 byWilliam Andrews Nesfield. The next year, the Italian Water Garden was constructed at Victoria Gate, including fountains and asummer house. Queen Anne's Alcove was designed bySir Christopher Wren and was moved to the park from its original location in Kensington Gardens.[19]
During the late 20th century, over 9,000elm trees in Hyde Park were killed byDutch elm disease. This included many trees along the great avenues planted by Queen Caroline, which were ultimately replaced by limes and maples.[43][47] The park now holds 4 acres (1.6 ha) ofgreenhouses which hold the bedding plants for the Royal Parks. A scheme is available to adopt trees in the park, which helps fund their upkeep and maintenance.[43] A botanical curiosity is theweeping beech, which is known as "the upside-down tree".[48] Arose garden, designed by Colvin & Moggridge Landscape Architects, was added in 1994.[49]
There are a number of assorted statues and memorials around Hyde Park. The Cavalry Memorial was built in 1924 at Stanhope Gate. It moved to the Serpentine Road when Park Lane was widened to traffic in 1961.[50] South of the Serpentine is theDiana, Princess of Wales memorial, an oval stone ring fountain opened on 6 July 2004.[51] To the east of the Serpentine, just beyond the dam, is Britain'sHolocaust Memorial.[52] The7 July Memorial in the park commemorates the victims of7 July 2005 London bombings.[53]
The Standing Stone is a 7 t (7.7-ton)monolith at the centre of the Dell, in the east of Hyde Park. Made ofCornish stone, it was originally part of a drinking fountain, though anurban legend was established, claiming it was brought fromStonehenge by Charles I.[43]
An assortment of unusual sculptures are scattered around the park, including:Still Water, a massive horse head lapping up water;Jelly Baby Family, a family of giantJelly Babies standing on top of a large black cube; andVroom Vroom, which resembles a giant human hand pushing a toy car along the ground.[54] The sculptorJacob Epstein constructed several works in Hyde Park. His memorial to the authorWilliam Henry Hudson, featuring his characterRima caused public outrage when it was unveiled in 1925.[19]
There has been a fountain at Grosvenor Gate since 1863, designed byAlexander Munro. There is another fountain opposite Mount Street on the park's eastern edge.[19]
Apet cemetery was established at the north edge of Hyde Park in the late 19th century.[55][56] The last burial took place in 1976.[57]
Currently, theMetropolitan Police Service is responsible for policing the park and are based inside what is colloquially known as 'the Old Police House', which is situated within the park.[58] The building was designed byJohn Dixon Butler, who was the forces's surveyor between 1895 and 1920. For the police, he completed around 200 buildings, including theFormer New Scotland Yard, Norman Shaw South Building (assisting Richard Norman Shaw);[59] the adjoiningCanon Row Police Station;[60] Bow Road Police Station,Tower Hamlets;[61]Tower Bridge Magistrates Court and adjoining Police Station;[62] and 19–21 Great Marlborough Street, Westminster (court and police station).[63] The architectural historian describes the building as being like, from a distance, "a medium-sized country house of Charles II’s time."[58] Hyde Park was policed by the Metropolitan Police from 1867 until 1993, when policing of the park was handed over to the Royal Parks Constabulary. In 2004 this changed back to the Metropolitan Police, following a review of the Royal Parks Constabulary byAnthony Speed.
Hyde Park's Speakers' Corner has acquired an international reputation fordemonstrations and other protests[64] due to its tolerance offree speech.[65] In 1855, a protest at the park was organised to demonstrate againstRobert Grosvenor's attempt to banSunday trading, including a restriction on pub opening times.Karl Marx observed that approximately 200,000 protesters attended the demonstration, which involved jeering and taunting at upper-class horse carriages. A further protest occurred a week later, but this time the police attacked the crowd.[66]
A Protestant Christian protesting at Speakers' Corner in 2010
In 1867 the policing of the park was entrusted to theMetropolitan Police, the only royal park so managed, due to the potential for trouble at Speakers' Corner. A Metropolitan Police station ('AH') is situated in the middle of the park. Covering Hyde Park and sixteen other royal parks (mostly in London), the1872 Parks Regulation Act formalised the position of "park keeper" and also provided that "Every police constable belonging to the police force of the district in which any park, garden, or possession to which this Act applies is situate shall have the powers, privileges, and immunities of a park-keeper within such park, garden, or possession."[67]
Speakers' Corner became increasingly popular in the late 19th century. Visitors brought along placards, stepladders and soap boxes in order to stand out from others, whileheckling of speakers was popular. The rise of the Internet, particularly blogs, has diminished the importance of Speakers' Corner as a political platform, and it is increasingly seen as simply a tourist attraction.[46]
TheFree Hugs Campaign has taken place several times at Speakers' Corner.
As well as Speakers' Corner, several important mass demonstrations have occurred in Hyde Park. On 26 July 1886, theReform League staged a march from their headquarters towards the park, campaigning for increasedsuffrage and representation. Though the police had closed the park, the crowd managed to break down the perimeter railings and get inside, leading to the event being dubbed "The Hyde Park Railings Affair". After the protests turned violent, three squadrons ofHorse Guards and numerous Foot Guards were sent out from Marble Arch to combat the situation.[68] On 21 June 1908, as part of "Women's Sunday", a reported 750,000 people marched from theEmbankment to Hyde Park protesting forvotes for women. The first protest against the planned2003 invasion of Iraq took place in Hyde Park on 28 September 2002, with 150,000–350,000 in attendance.[69] A further series of demonstrations happened around the world, culminating in the15 February 2003 anti-war protests, part of a global demonstration against theIraq War.[70] Over a million protesters are reported to have attended the Hyde Park event alone.[69]
The bandstand in Hyde Park was built in Kensington Gardens in 1869 and moved to its present location in 1886. It became a popular place for concerts in the 1890s, featuring up to three every week. Military and brass bands continued to play there into the 20th century.[71]
Pink Floyd performing atLive 8 in Hyde Park, 2 July 2005, their last of several gigs at the park over their career
The music management companyBlackhill Enterprises held the first rock concert in Hyde Park on 29 June 1968, attended by 15,000 people. On the bill werePink Floyd,Roy Harper andJethro Tull, whileJohn Peel later said it was "the nicest concert I’ve ever been to". Subsequently, Hyde Park has featured some of the most significant concerts in rock. The supergroupBlind Faith (featuringEric Clapton andSteve Winwood) played their debut gig in Hyde Park on 7 June 1969.The Rolling Stones headlined a concert (later released asThe Stones in the Park) on 5 July that year, two days after the death of founding memberBrian Jones, and is now remembered as one of the most famous gigs of the 1960s. Pink Floyd returned to Hyde Park on 18 July 1970, playing new material fromAtom Heart Mother. All of the early gigs from 1968 to 1971 were free events, contrasting sharply with the later commercial endeavours.[72]
Queen played a free concert organised byRichard Branson in the park on 18 September 1976, partway through recording the albumA Day at the Races. The band drew an audience of 150,000 – 200,000, which remains the largest crowd for a Hyde Park concert. The group were not allowed to play an encore, and police threatened to arrest frontmanFreddie Mercury if he attempted to do so.[73]
Local residents have become critical of Hyde Park as a concert venue, due to the sound levels, and have campaigned for a maximum sound level of 73decibels.[80] In July 2012,Bruce Springsteen andPaul McCartney found their microphones switched off after Springsteen had played a three-hour set during the Park's Hard Rock Calling festival, and overshot the 10:30 pm curfew time.[81]
Hyde Park contains several sporting facilities, including severalfootball pitches and aTennis centre. There are numerous cycle paths, and horse riding is popular.[82]
There are fiveLondon Underground stations located on or near the edges of Hyde Park andKensington Gardens (which is contiguous with Hyde Park). In clockwise order starting from the south-east, they are:[87]
Bayswater tube station, on the Circle andDistrict lines, is also close to Queensway station and the north-west corner of the park.High Street Kensington tube station, on the Circle andDistrict is very close to Kensington Palace located on the Southwest corner of Kensington Gardens. Paddington station, served by Bakerloo, Circle and District, and Hammersmith & City lines, is close to Lancaster Gate station and a short walk away from Hyde Park.[87]
Several main roads run around the perimeter of Hyde Park. Park Lane is part of theLondon Inner Ring Road and theLondon congestion charge zone boundary. Transport within the park for people lacking mobility and disabled visitors is provided free of charge by Liberty Drives, located at Triangle Carpark.[88]
Cycle Superhighway 3 (CS3) begins atLancaster Gate, on the northern perimeter of Hyde Park. It is one of several TfL-coordinated cycle routes to cross the Park. CS3 also crosses Hyde Park Corner on its route towards Westminster and theCity of London. The route opened in September 2018 and is signposted and cyclists are segregated from other road traffic on wide cycle tracks.[89][90]
^By comparison, the combined area of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens is larger than thePrincipality of Monaco (196 ha or 484 acres), though smaller than theBois de Boulogne in Paris (845 hectares, or 2090 acres), New York City'sCentral Park (341 ha or 840 acres), and Dublin'sPhoenix Park (707 hectares, or 1,750 acres).
^Bridgeman was Royal Gardener 1728–38; designed theRound Pond in Kensington Gardens. Peter Willis,Charles Bridgeman and the English Landscape Garden (London and New York) 1978, devotes a chapter to Bridgeman'sRoyal Commissions.
^"Hyde Park History". Royalparks.org.uk. 15 December 2003. Archived fromthe original on 13 January 2006. Retrieved11 December 2011.
^Weinreb et al. 2008, p. 423 "Hyde Park W1, W2, SW7. The largest of the Royal Parks, covers 340 acres between Bayswater Road in the north and Knightsbridge in the south.".
^abcWalford, Edward (1878)."Hyde Park".Old and New London. Vol. 4. London: British History Online, Institute of Historical Research, School of Advanced Study, University of London. pp. 375–405.Archived from the original on 28 January 2017. Retrieved13 April 2017.
^Timothy Mowl, "Rococo and Later Landscaping at Longleat",Garden History23.1 (Summer 1995, pp. 56–66) p. 59, noting Jacob Larwood,The Story of London Parks 1881:41.
^Purbrick, Louise:The Great Exhibition of 1851: New Interdisciplinary Essays: 2001: Manchester University Press, p. 122
^Crook, M. J. (1975).The Evolution of the Victoria Cross. Midas Books. pp. 49–52..
^Addison, Harriet (26 November 2011)."Get your skates on this weekend".The Times. London, England. p. 3 [S1].Archived from the original on 14 May 2016. Retrieved16 August 2017.
^Brown, David; Gledhill, Ruth; Fresco, Adam (18 September 2010)."Pope's rallying cry".The Times. London, England. p. 1.Archived from the original on 6 August 2019. Retrieved16 August 2017.
^Davy, Christopher (18 August 1827)."New Grand Entrance into Hyde Park".Mechanics' Magazine and Journal of Science, Arts, and Manufactures. Vol. 8, no. 65–68.Archived from the original on 10 June 2016.
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