Where: Marylebone
and Prince Albert Roads, London NW1
What:
Its proper name is "The Regent's Park".
One
of London's Royal Parks, the
'The' and the apostrophe are
usually dropped; it's more commonly referred to as 'regents
park'.
Regents park
is one of the largest of London parks, covering an area
of 472
acres.
It
is
the largest
grass
area for sports in central London and offers
a
wide variety
of activities including an open air theatre, London
Zoo,
cafes, restaurants, and a large boating lake. On a hot
summers day it can feel like the whole of London is there and
on cool evenings the
two-mile
Outer Circle acts as a promenade for local residents.
Like many
of the other Royal Parks, regents park formed part of the vast
chase 'appropriated' by Henry
VIII. Then known as marylebone
park, it remained a royal chase until 1646. It was in the early
1800's that John Nash, architect and friend of the
Prince Regent, developed Regent's Park as we know it today.
He created a vast rounded park, surrounded by palatial terraces,
a lake, a canal, 56 villas and a second home for the prince.
It soon became known as the 'jewel in the crown'.
Over the succeeding
years the park became the home of several organisations like
the Zoological Society (more commonly known as London Zoo) and
the Royal Botanic Society. It wasn't until
1845,
during
the reign of Queen Victoria, that the general public were actually
allowed into the park, and then only for two days of the week.
The main development
in the 20th century was the creation, in the 1930s, of Queen
Mary's Gardens. Today, of the buildings and monuments
within the park, only two villas
remain from John Nash's original conception of the park.
Nearest
underground station: Baker
Street or Regent’s Park
Opening
hours: The park is open from 5am until dusk all year round.
Website: royalparks.gov.uk
London
Hotels (these links are to another website)