Monday, June 27, 2011

London's Parks

The parks of London are one of the city’s glories. Like lungs, they let us breath by pumping oxygen into the air and no trip to London would be complete without a ramble through some of the Royal Parks like Hyde Park or Regent’s Park. Here then are some interesting facts that you might not know about the parks of London.
  • At 253 hectares, Hyde Park (when combined with Kensington Gardens) is bigger than Monaco.
  • Hyde Park, Green Park, Buckingham Palace and St James’ Park form a chain that take you from Kensington Palace to Horse Guard’s Parade in Whitehall.
  • Hyde Park was once a hunting ground for Henry VIII and wasn’t open to everyone until 1637 when Charles II turned it into a public park.
  • Green Park was once a notorious duelling venue.
  • St James’ Park is the oldest of the Royal Parks in London and used to belong to Eton College.
  • Regent’s Park’s real names should be The Regent’s Park but this is rarely used.
  • The Official Residence of the American Ambassador is in private land in Regent’s Park
  • Regent’s Park was originally supposed to be where a palace and series of villas would be built for the Prince Regent (later George IV) and his friends but this plan was only partly completed.
  • Regent’s Park became a Public Park in 1835, initially for only two days a week.


You can find out more about the parks mentioned above on Wikipedia:

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