The Hyde Park

When King Henry VIII and his court were thundering across Hyde Park in 1536 in pursuit of deer and wild boar, it would have been difficult to visualize that years later the noble art of tai chi would be peacefully performed among the trees in the early morning, and the Italianate tenor of Pavarotti would echo across the park, applauded by vast audiences.

History and Architecture
Hyde Park is one of London's finest landscapes and covers over 350 acres.
Henry VIII acquired Hyde Park from the monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536; he and his court were often to be seen on thundering steeds in the hunt for deer. It remained a private hunting ground until James I came to the throne and permitted limited access. The King appointed a ranger, or keeper, to take charge of the park. It was Charles I who changed the nature of the park completely. He had the Ring (north of the present Serpentine boathouses) created and in 1637 opened the park to the general public.
In 1665, the year of the Great Plague, many citizens of London fled the City to camp on Hyde Park, in the hope of escaping the disease.
Towards the end of the 17th century William III moved his court to Kensington Palace. He found that his walk to St James's was very dangerous, so he had 300 oil lamps installed, creating the first artificially lit highway in the country. This route later became known as Rotten Row, which is a corruption of the French 'Route de Roi' or King's Road.
Queen Caroline, wife of George II, had extensive renovations carried out and in the 1730s had The Serpentine, a lake of some 11.34 hectares, created.
Hyde Park became a venue for national celebrations. In 1814 the Prince Regent organised fireworks to mark the end of the Napoleonic Wars, in 1851 (during Queen Victoria's reign) the Great Exhibition was held and in 1977 a Silver Jubilee Exhibition was held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's 25 years on the throne.
In 1866 Edmund Beales' Reform League marched on Hyde Park where great scuffles broke out between the League and the police. Eventually the Prime Minister allowed the meetings to continue unchallenged and since 1872, people have been allowed to speak at Speaker's Corner on any subject they want to.
The Lido was set up by George Lansbury, the first Commissioner of Works, in 1930 and in warm weather is used for sunbathing and swimming.

Landscape Hisory
Hyde Park - Park of pleasure
Hyde Park was created to satisfy a royal passion for hunting. But over the years it became a place where people have pursued many other pleasures.
Around the time of the Domesday Book, about 900 years ago, the area that became Hyde Park was part of the Manor of Eia and belonged to monks from Westminster Abbey. There were meadows dotted with trees. You would have seen roaming deer, boar and wild bulls. The Westbourne Stream, which now flows underground, crossed the area on its way between Hampstead and the Thames.
In 1536, King Henry VIII seized the manor from the monks. He sold some of the land but turned the rest into a vast hunting park that stretched from Kensington to Westminster.
Henry put a fence round his new park and dammed the Westbourne Stream to make drinking ponds for the deer. He organised royal hunts to entertain ambassadors and dignitaries. Visitors watched from grandstands then enjoyed great feasts in temporary banqueting houses. The hunting tradition continued with Queen Elizabeth I. She also reviewed her troops in Hyde Park on the parade ground - a flat area next to Park Lane.
The appearance of the park remained very much the same until 1625 when Charles l became king. He created a circular track called the Ring where members of the royal court could drive their carriages. The park was opened to the public in 1637 and it soon became a fashionable place to visit, particularly on May Day.
During the civil war (1642-9), parliamentary troops built forts in the park. They dug defensive earthworks on the east side to help defend the city of Westminster from royalist attacks. And you can see evidence of the earthworks today in the raised bank next to Park Lane.
With the restoration of the monarchy in 1660, Hyde became a royal park again and the new King Charles II replaced the wooden fence with a brick wall. He restocked the park with deer and organised great carriage parades.
Bigger changes happened when William and Mary became king and queen in 1689. They bought Nottingham House on the western edge of the park. They renamed it Kensington Palace and made it their main home in London. To get from Kensington to Westminster, they created a processional route through Hyde Park. It was lit by 300 oil lamps and was the first road in England to be lit at night. The road was called route de roi or King's Road but the name became corrupted to Rotten Row.
Many of the striking features you see today in Hyde Park were created in the 18th century by a keen royal gardener, Queen Caroline. In 1728, she took almost 300 acres from Hyde Park to form Kensington Gardens and she separated the two parks with a long ditch or ha-ha. She also established a new landscape fashion. Queen Caroline made a large lake called the Serpentine by damming the Westbourne Stream. At that time, artificial lakes were usually long and straight. The Serpentine was one of the first created lakes in England that was designed to look natural. It was soon copied in parks and gardens all over the country. And it was the centrepiece of celebrations in 1814 for the British victory at the sea battle of Trafalgar.
Hyde Park remained the same for almost 100 years until the 1820s when King George IV ordered a makeover. He employed Decimus Burton to create a monumental entrance at Hyde Park Corner. It comprised the Triumphal Screen you can still see today and the Wellington Arch, which was later moved to the middle of roundabout at Hyde Park Corner. Burton also replaced the park's walls with railings and designed several new lodges and gates. At around the same time, John Rennie built a bridge across the Serpentine and Hyde Park was formally split from Kensington Gardens by a new road called West Carriage Drive.
Another upheaval came in 1851 when Joseph Paxton built his Crystal Palace alongside Rotten Row to house the Great Exhibition. But this time the change was temporary. The palace was moved piece by piece to Sydenham in south London when the exhibition closed. Some of Burton's lodges were later demolished and roads on the south edge were widened. More recently, in 2004, the memorial fountain to Diana, Princess of Wales, was built in the park. Apart from these changes, what you see in Hyde Park is largely how Decimus Burton left it.

Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
This unique Memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales was opened by Her Majesty The Queen on 6th July 2004.
The fountain was built with the best materials, talent and technology. It contains 545 pieces of Cornish granite - each shaped by the latest computer-controlled machinery and pieced together using traditional skills.
The design aims to reflect Diana's life, water flows from the highest point in two directions as it cascades, swirls and bubbles before meeting in a calm pool at the bottom. The water is constantly being refreshed and is drawn from London's water table.
The Memorial also symbolises Diana's quality and openness. There are three bridges where you can cross the water and go right to the heart of the fountain. We hope visitors will feel at home when they visit this special place.

Flora and Fauna
Hyde Park provides a unique habitat in the heart of London for a diverse variety of species of flora and fauna. Positive changes in management practices have gone a long way to encourage new species into the park. The creation of the meadow area gives a flavor of how Hyde Park once looked and this area has become more diverse year on year since its creation. Have a look during the summer for butterflies feeding off the native wildflowers in the meadow.
The trees, shrub beds and herbaceous plantings provide rich habitats for song birds including the robin, dun nocks and tits. Look out for small groups of Long Tailed Tits that hop around from tree to tree looking for insects and nesting materials. However, over feeding of aggressive feral pigeons and squirrels threatens the native song birds as they are not able to compete with these pests.
The Serpentine attracts a large number of wildfowl into the park, many of which are winter visitors to the park. Look out for the exotic looking Great Crested Grebes and their spectacular mating rituals. The lake also attracts a large number of insects that provides a perfect feeding ground for bats. The best place to view bats is on Dell bridge around dusk and also close to Serpentine Bridge.
Much of the wildlife in the park goes un-noticed by the majority of visitors. This includes a large number of 'minibeasts' such as beetles, bees and ground foraging insects. These insects are a vital component of the park ecosystem and the creation and protection of their habitats is very important for the overall health of the park.
Look out for other exotic and unusual visitors to Hyde Park. Recent sightings have included a black swan, a buzzard and Egyptian Geese. Feel free to report any unusual sightings that you see during your visit to Hyde Park.