Description
Regent's Park is one of London's Royal Parks, 170 hectares of lawns, gardens and water in the north-west of the center, between Marylebone and Camden: rose gardens, a lake, an open-air theater and London Zoo, all ringed by elegant stucco terraces.
At its heart, inside the circular road called the Inner Circle, lie Queen Mary's Gardens, laid out in the 1930s and loved for their roses, at their best in June. In the same gardens stands the Open Air Theatre, with performances under the sky in summer.
On the northern edge is London Zoo, home of the Zoological Society of London, and across the north runs Regent's Canal. The lake has a heronry, waterfowl and a boating area, while the south-east corner keeps formal Italian Gardens next to informal English ones.
To the north the park borders Primrose Hill, 64 meters high, with wide views over central London. Around the edges run neoclassical terraces in stucco, and Chester Terrace has the longest façade of them all. In the western part stand the London Central Mosque and Winfield House, the residence of the United States ambassador.
The park began as a royal hunting ground. Henry VIII took the land after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and as Marylebone Park it stayed a chase until 1649, before being let as small farms for hay and dairy.
In the 1810s the Prince Regent wanted a pleasure garden here, and John Nash, James Burton and Decimus Burton designed the park with its terraces and villas. The plan is counted among the first garden suburbs, and when it opened to the public in 1835, it was open only two days a week.
Its darkest day came on 15 January 1867, when the ice on the lake gave way and 40 people died. The lake was later drained and made shallower.
At its heart, inside the circular road called the Inner Circle, lie Queen Mary's Gardens, laid out in the 1930s and loved for their roses, at their best in June. In the same gardens stands the Open Air Theatre, with performances under the sky in summer.
On the northern edge is London Zoo, home of the Zoological Society of London, and across the north runs Regent's Canal. The lake has a heronry, waterfowl and a boating area, while the south-east corner keeps formal Italian Gardens next to informal English ones.
To the north the park borders Primrose Hill, 64 meters high, with wide views over central London. Around the edges run neoclassical terraces in stucco, and Chester Terrace has the longest façade of them all. In the western part stand the London Central Mosque and Winfield House, the residence of the United States ambassador.
The park began as a royal hunting ground. Henry VIII took the land after the Dissolution of the Monasteries, and as Marylebone Park it stayed a chase until 1649, before being let as small farms for hay and dairy.
In the 1810s the Prince Regent wanted a pleasure garden here, and John Nash, James Burton and Decimus Burton designed the park with its terraces and villas. The plan is counted among the first garden suburbs, and when it opened to the public in 1835, it was open only two days a week.
Its darkest day came on 15 January 1867, when the ice on the lake gave way and 40 people died. The lake was later drained and made shallower.