Description
Hyde Park is the biggest of the royal parks in central London: 350 acres of lawns, trees and water between Bayswater Road, Park Lane and Knightsbridge. It is where Londoners walk, row, swim, ride, march and listen to music, a green chain that runs on to Kensington Palace and almost to Buckingham Palace.
Start with the Serpentine, the long curved lake that divides the southern half of the park. Queen Caroline had the River Westbourne dammed to create it in the 1720s. You can hire a rowing boat, or swim at the lido, which has been open since 1930.
Near the lake, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain is an oval ring of stone, opened in 2004, where visitors paddle in the water. Nearby, the 7 July Memorial remembers those killed in the 2005 London bombings.
At the northeast corner, near Marble Arch, Speakers' Corner has been London's stage for free speech since 1872. The 18th century settled quarrels differently: 172 duels were fought in the park, with 63 deaths.
Henry VIII took the land from Westminster Abbey in 1536 to hunt deer, and Charles I opened it to the public in 1637. In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held here in Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace.
Rotten Row, along the south edge, was created in 1689 by William III as a private road to Kensington Palace. It is believed to be London's first lit road, to keep highwaymen away.
The park is also a great stage. The first rock concert here was in 1968, with Pink Floyd. The Rolling Stones played for free in 1969, two days after Brian Jones died, and Queen drew up to 200,000 people in 1976. In 2003 over a million marched here against the Iraq War.
Small oddities hide among the trees: a pet cemetery used until 1976, the Standing Stone that urban legend says came from Stonehenge, and the Winter Wonderland that fills the park every Christmas.
Start with the Serpentine, the long curved lake that divides the southern half of the park. Queen Caroline had the River Westbourne dammed to create it in the 1720s. You can hire a rowing boat, or swim at the lido, which has been open since 1930.
Near the lake, the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain is an oval ring of stone, opened in 2004, where visitors paddle in the water. Nearby, the 7 July Memorial remembers those killed in the 2005 London bombings.
At the northeast corner, near Marble Arch, Speakers' Corner has been London's stage for free speech since 1872. The 18th century settled quarrels differently: 172 duels were fought in the park, with 63 deaths.
Henry VIII took the land from Westminster Abbey in 1536 to hunt deer, and Charles I opened it to the public in 1637. In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held here in Joseph Paxton's Crystal Palace.
Rotten Row, along the south edge, was created in 1689 by William III as a private road to Kensington Palace. It is believed to be London's first lit road, to keep highwaymen away.
The park is also a great stage. The first rock concert here was in 1968, with Pink Floyd. The Rolling Stones played for free in 1969, two days after Brian Jones died, and Queen drew up to 200,000 people in 1976. In 2003 over a million marched here against the Iraq War.
Small oddities hide among the trees: a pet cemetery used until 1976, the Standing Stone that urban legend says came from Stonehenge, and the Winter Wonderland that fills the park every Christmas.