Hyde Park London

The ancient manor of Hyde once formed part of the lands belonging to Westminster Abbey.  In 1536, at the Dissolution of the Monasteries, this land was seized by Henry VIII and became part of the King's hunting grounds.  

It has remained a royal park ever since.  In the early 17th century James I opened Hyde Park as London's first public park. 

Although it was plagued by highwaymen and duelling nobles, Hyde Park soon became one London's most prized public spaces and a fashionable place to see and be seen.  Queen Caroline (wife of George II) was a keen landscape gardener and in the 1730s the queen was behind the scheme that dammed the Westbourne river to create an artificial lake.  Known as the Serpentine, this became the park's central feature; popular for both boating and bathing. 

In 1851 Hyde Park was the setting for the Great Exhibition.  Joseph Paxton's magnificent 'Crystal Palace' stood between the Serpentine and the Prince of Wales Gate.  In 1852 the vast glass building was dismantled and rebuilt in south-east London.  (That area is still named after the great glass-house, although the actual Crystal Palace was destroyed by fire in 1936).     

Today, despite being surrounded by some of the world's busiest streets, Hyde Park is a peaceful haven for the capital's office workers and tourists.   At 1.5 miles long and just under 0.5 mile wide, it is central London's largest park.  There are 350 acres of woods, grasslands, lake and gardens. 

Hyde Park also has a horse riding track, originally laid out from the West End to Kensington Palace by William III.  This famous track is known as Rotten Row, a corruption of 'route du roi'. 

Other highlights include a children's playground and boating on the Serpentine.  In the summer there are Sunday afternoon concerts at the bandstand and open air music concerts are also regularly held here.  

On Sunday mornings, Speaker's Corner, at the north-east corner near Marble Arch, is a venue for free speech (an 1872 law made it legal for a speaker to assemble a crowd and address them on any subject). 

At around 10.30 am every day the Household Cavalry can be observed riding through the park from Hyde Park Barracks to Buckingham Palace.  On royal anniversaries and other important occasions a 41-gun salute is fired in Hyde Park, opposite the Dorchester Hotel in Park Lane.       

Admission free

Opening Times