I’m calling this a small taste, because it only shows what we saw on a single walk across the park one afternoon in late spring last year.
That does no justice to how much is fitted into the park, which is half the size of New York’s Central Park, but seems just as huge. It contains parts of two universities, the London Zoo, the official residence of the U.S. Ambassador, refreshments, botanic gardens, and more.
Well worth a longer visit, and some hours just relaxing there…next time!
The land the park is on has a long history. In the Middle Ages, it was part of the Manor of Tyburn, owned by Barking Abbey (what a name!). When the monasteries were dissolved, Henry VIII seized it for the Crown, and it’s still pat of the Crown Estate. It was used as a hunting park and as farmland.
In 1811, the Prince Regent, later George IV, planned a palace for himself there, and villas for his friends around it. By 1820, he had become king and didn’t need a new palace, but let the rest of the design go forward. It was first opened to the public in 1835.
A fierce green gardener with his topiary watering can and wheelbarrow…
Fields of roses…
