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Buses
from:
North London: 6,10, 73, 82, 38
South London: 2, 12, 16, 19, 22, 36, 74, 137
West London: 9, 14, 15, 23, 94
East London: 8, 38
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Underground:
Lancaster Gate, Marble Arch, (both Central Line) Hyde
Park Corner (Piccadilly) and Knightsbridge (Piccadilly)
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Hyde
Park is one of London's finest landscapes
and covers over 350 acres.
Henry VIII acquired Hyde Park from the
monks of Westminster Abbey in 1536; he and
his court were often to be seen on thundering
steeds in the hunt for deer. It remained
a private hunting ground until James I came
to the throne and permitted limited access... |
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The King appointed a ranger, or keeper, to take charge of
the park. It was Charles I who changed the nature of the park
completely. He had the Ring (north of the present Serpentine
boathouses) created and in 1637 opened the park to the general
public.
In 1665, the year of the Great Plague, many citizens of London
fled the City to camp on Hyde Park, in the hope of escaping
the disease.
Towards the end of the 17th century William III moved his
court to Kensington Palace. He found that his walk to St James's
was very dangerous, so he had 300 oil lamps installed, creating
the first artificially lit highway in the country. This route
later became known as Rotten Row, which is a corruption of
the French 'Route de Roi' or King's Road.
Queen Caroline, wife of George II, had extensive renovations
carried out and in the 1730s had The Serpentine, a lake of
some 11.34 hectares, created.
Hyde Park became a venue for national celebrations. In 1814
the Prince Regent organised fireworks to mark the end of the
Napoleonic Wars, in 1851 (during Queen Victoria's reign) the
Great Exhibition was held and in 1977 a Silver Jubilee Exhibition
was held in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's 25 years on the
throne.
In 1866 Edmund Beales' Reform League marched on Hyde Park
where great scuffles broke out between the League and the
police. Eventually the Prime Minister allowed the meetings
to continue unchallenged and since 1872, people have been
allowed to speak at Speaker's Corner on any subject they want
to.
The Lido was set up by George Lansbury, the first Commissioner
of Works, in 1930 and in warm weather is used for sunbathing
and swimming.
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