Green Park (officially
The Green Park) is one of the
Royal Parks of LondonThe Royal Parks of London are lands originally owned by the monarchy of England or the United Kingdom for the recreation of the royal family...
. Covering , it lies between
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
's
Hyde ParkHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
and
St. James's ParkSt. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in Westminster, central London, the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less....
. Together with
Kensington GardensKensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. Most of it is in the City of Westminster, but a small section to the west is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
and the gardens of
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, these parks form an almost unbroken stretch of open land reaching from
WhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London...
and
Victoria stationVictoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a major London Underground, National Rail and coach station in the City of Westminster. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo. It is in Travelcard Zone 1...
to
KensingtonKensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the...
and
Notting HillNotting Hill is an area in West London, England close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
.
By contrast with its neighbours, Green Park has no lakes. Also has only the
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Memorial by
Pierre Granchethumb|250px|Système, at Namur metro station, Montrealthumb|250px|Totem urbain / histoire en dentelles, McCord Museum , MontrealPierre Granche was a French-Canadian sculptor....
) and the
Constance Fund Fountain
The park consists entirely of wooded meadows.
Green Park (officially
The Green Park) is one of the
Royal Parks of LondonThe Royal Parks of London are lands originally owned by the monarchy of England or the United Kingdom for the recreation of the royal family...
. Covering , it lies between
London[]London is the capital of England and the United Kingdom. It has been a major settlement for two millennia, and the history of London goes back to its founding by the Romans, when it was named Londinium. London's core, the ancient City of London, the 'square mile', retains its medieval boundaries...
's
Hyde ParkHyde Park is one of the largest parks in central London, England and one of the Royal Parks of London, famous for its Speakers' Corner.The park is divided in two by the Serpentine...
and
St. James's ParkSt. James's Park is a 23 hectare park in Westminster, central London, the oldest of the Royal Parks of London. The park lies at the southernmost tip of the St. James's area, which was named after a leper hospital dedicated to St. James the Less....
. Together with
Kensington GardensKensington Gardens, once the private gardens of Kensington Palace, is one of the Royal Parks of London, lying immediately to the west of Hyde Park. Most of it is in the City of Westminster, but a small section to the west is in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
and the gardens of
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
, these parks form an almost unbroken stretch of open land reaching from
WhitehallWhitehall is a road in Westminster in London, England. It is the main artery running north from Parliament Square, towards traditional Charing Cross, now at the southern end of Trafalgar Square and marked by the statue of Charles I, which is often regarded as the heart of London...
and
Victoria stationVictoria station, also known as London Victoria, is a major London Underground, National Rail and coach station in the City of Westminster. It is the second busiest railway terminus in London after Waterloo. It is in Travelcard Zone 1...
to
KensingtonKensington is a district of West London, England within the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, located west of Charing Cross. An affluent and densely-populated area, its commercial heart is Kensington High Street and it contains the well-known museum district of South Kensington.To the...
and
Notting HillNotting Hill is an area in West London, England close to the north-western corner of Kensington Gardens, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea...
.
By contrast with its neighbours, Green Park has no lakes. Also has only the
CanadaCanada is a country occupying most of northern North America, extending from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
Memorial by
Pierre Granchethumb|250px|Système, at Namur metro station, Montrealthumb|250px|Totem urbain / histoire en dentelles, McCord Museum , MontrealPierre Granche was a French-Canadian sculptor....
) and the
Constance Fund Fountain
The park consists entirely of wooded meadows. The park is bounded on the south by
Constitution HillConstitution Hill is a road in the City of Westminster in London. It connects the western end of The Mall with Hyde Park Corner, and is bordered by Buckingham Palace Gardens and Green Park. The term "Hill" is something of an anomaly; there is barely detectable slope but most observers would...
, on the east by the
pedestrianA pedestrian is a person traveling on foot, whether walking or running. In some communities, those traveling using roller skates, skateboards, and similar devices are also considered to be pedestrians. In modern times, the term mostly refers to someone walking on a road or footpath, but this was...
Queen's Walk, and on the north by
PiccadillyPiccadilly is a major London street, running from Hyde Park Corner in the west to Piccadilly Circus in the east. It is completely within the city of Westminster. The street is part of the A4 road, London's second most important western artery. St...
. It meets St. James's Park at Queen's Gardens with the
Victoria MemorialThe Victoria Memorial is a sculpture in London, placed at the centre of Queen's Gardens in front of Buckingham Palace.It was completed in 1911, the sculptor being Sir Thomas Brock. The surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb, from 2,300 tons of white marble...
at its centre, opposite the entrance to
Buckingham PalaceBuckingham Palace is the official London residence of the British monarch. Located in the City of Westminster, the palace is a setting for state occasions and royal hospitality...
. To the south is the ceremonial avenue of
The MallThe Mall in London is the road running from Buckingham Palace at its western end to Admiralty Arch and on to Trafalgar Square at its eastern end, where it crosses Spring Gardens, which was where the Metropolitan Board of Works and, for a number of years, the London County Council were based...
, and the buildings of St James's Palace and
Clarence HouseClarence House is a royal home in London, situated on The Mall. It is attached to St. James's Palace and shares the palace's garden. For nearly 50 years, from 1953 to 2002, it was home to Queen Elizabeth, the Queen Mother, but is now the official residence of The Prince of Wales, The Duchess of...
overlook the park to the east.
Green Park tube stationGreen Park tube station is a London Underground station located on the north side of Green Park, close to the intersection of Piccadilly and the pedestrian Queen's Walk...
is a major interchange located on
PiccadillyThe Piccadilly line is a line of the London Underground, coloured dark blue on the Tube map. It is the third busiest line on the Underground network judged by the number of passengers transported per year. It is mainly a deep-level line running from the north to the west of London via Zone 1, with...
,
VictoriaThe Victoria line is part of the London Underground system and is a deep-level line running from the south to the north-east of London. It is coloured light blue on the Tube map and, in terms of the average number of journeys per mile, is the busiest line on the network...
and
JubileeThe Jubilee line is a line on the London Underground , in the United Kingdom. It was built in two major sections - initially to Charing Cross in Central London, and later extended in 1999 to Stratford in East London. The later stations are notable for their larger size and safety features...
lines near the north end of Queen's Walk.
History
The park is said to have originally been a swampy burial ground for lepers from the nearby hospital at St James's. It was first enclosed in the 16th century by
Henry VIIIHenry VIII was King of England from 21 April 1509 until his death. He was also Lord of Ireland and claimant to the Kingdom of France. Henry was the second monarch of the House of Tudor, succeeding his father, Henry VII.Henry VIII was a significant figure in the history of the English monarchy...
, when it formed part of the estate of the Poulteney family. In 1668 an area of the Poulteney estate known as Sandpit Field was surrendered to
Charles IICharles II was the King of England, Scotland, and Ireland.Charles II's father King Charles I was executed at Whitehall on 30 January 1649, at the climax of the English Civil War. The English Parliament did not proclaim Charles II king at this time. Instead they passed a statute making such a...
, who made the bulk of the land into a Royal Park. He laid out the park's main walks and building an
icehouseIce houses were buildings used to store ice throughout the year, prior to the invention of the refrigerator. The most common designs involved underground chambers, usually man-made, which were built close to natural sources of winter ice such as freshwater lakes.During the winter, ice and snow...
there to supply him with ice for cooling drinks in summer. At the time, the park was on the outskirts of London and remained an isolated area well into the 18th century, when it was known as a haunt of highwaymen and thieves; Horace Walpole was one of many to be robbed there. It was a popular place for ballooning attempts and public firework displays during the 18th and 19th centuries.
HandelHANDEL was the code-name for the UK's National Attack Warning System in the Cold War. It consisted of a small console consisting of two microphones, lights and gauges. The reason behind this was to provide a back-up if anything failed....
's
Music for the Royal Fireworks was composed specifically for a fireworks celebration held in Green Park in 1749. The park was also known as a duelling ground; one particularly notorious duel took place there in 1730 between
William Pulteney, 1st Earl of BathWilliam Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath, PC was an English politician, created the first Earl of Bath in 1742 by King George II; he is sometimes stated to have been Prime Minister, for the shortest term ever , though most modern sources reckon that he cannot be considered to have held the...
and
John Hervey, 1st Earl of BristolJohn Hervey, 1st Earl of Bristol was an English politician.John Hervey was son of Sir Thomas Hervey of Bury St Edmunds. He was educated in Bury and at Clare College, Cambridge...
.
There are Government offices and corridors, linking the nearby Royal palaces, beneath the east side of Green Park and continue to run to the south. These are clearly visible on the edges of Green Park and St. James Park, with the glass roofs just below ground level. The rooms are thought to be conversions of some of the tunnels built as part of the Cabinet War Rooms from the Second World War.
Gallery
External links