Hyde Park (London)
Hyde Park is the largest of the lovely parks in London.
The land previously belonged to Westminster Abbey and was appropriated by Henry VIII in 1536 for use as a Royal deer park. James I opened it to the public.
The long lake called the Serpentine was created in 1730 by damming the River Westbourne. Harriet Westbrook, wife of Percy Bysshe Shelley, drowned herself in the Serpentine in 1816.
In 1851 the Great Exhibition, the brainchild of Prince Albert, was opened in Hyde Park at the Crystal Palace, designed by Joseph Paxton.
The Jarrow Marchers finished their long trek from the North East in Hyde Park.
Since the 1960s, Hyde Park has been the scene of many rock concerts,
Rotten Row runs along the Southern edge of the park, and is still used by horse riders.
At Hyde Park Corner, in the South East, is Apsley House, the home of the Duke of Wellington, while in the North East are Marble Arch and Speakers' Corner.
The parkland is continued to the West by Kensington Gardens.