Guide du routard Londres
Hyde Park
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Who would have thought that the place where King Henry VIII and his court would hunt deer and wild boar would transform, after half a century, into one of London’s finest, most picturesque and most popular tourist attractions? Hyde Park, one of the four “Royal” parks that form an unbroken line of foliage from the Houses of Parliament to Olympia, covers a vast 140 hectares (350 acres). It was acquired by Henry VIII in 1536, from the monks of Westminster Abbey, and used it as his private hunting grounds. When James I ascended the throne, he allowed limited access to the park and appointed a ranger to maintain its upkeep. However, it was Charles I who was responsible for opening the grounds to the general public. In the 17th century, William III had 300 oil lamps installed along a route he found dangerous. This pathway, which was later, called Rotten Row from the French ‘Route de Roi” or King’s Road could may have well been the first artificially lit highway in the country. Visitors at Hyde Park should make it a point to “speak up” at the very popular Speakers Corner, an area where everyone is allowed to speak on any subject. Speakers Corner is located at the north-east corner of Hyde Park and the tradition of speaking here may have been started in 1866 when the Chartist movement of Edmund Beales used the park as a gathering place of workers. Since then, it has been the site for public debates, speeches, as well as the assembly point for protest rallies in Britain. Another site worth seeing is the Serpentine Lake, an 11.34 hectare lake which was one of the many renovations initiated by Queen Caroline, wife of George II. The Serpentine, together with the Lido, are places where people can sunbathe and swim. Aside from these, Hyde Park also boasts of having a Tennis and Sports Centre, a horse riding arena or ‘Manege’, playground, The Lookout (a former police observation point that has been converted into an educational centre), toilets and several catering outlets such as The Dell: a large outdoor eating area located east of the Serpentine; The Lido Café: near the Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, at the South side of the Serpentine; and the Honest Sausage: a snack bar at the Speakers Corner. To further illustrate the beauty and appeal of the park, Hyde Park is one of the more favored locations of films since the birth of cinema. The first moving pictures, made in January 1889, were filmed near Apsley Gate. Part of the opening credits of the 1956 adaptation of Jules Verne’s Around the World in Eighty Days was filmed at the southern edge of the park. In recent years, scenes from the 2003 movie Johnny English were shot at the South Carriage Drive. Hyde Park is open daily from 5 am until midnight. Visitors can reach Hyde Park by tube or by bus. It is not advised to come by private car as parking is extremely limited. Introduction
History
Features
Ashlee House, 261-265 Grays Inn Road, London WC1X 8QT, England
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