Parks and open spaces in London

For London as a whole, see the main article London.

There are many parks and open spaces in London, England. Green space in central London consists of five Royal Parks, supplemented by a number of small garden squares scattered throughout the city centre. Open space in the rest of the city is dominated by the remaining three Royal Parks and many other parks and open spaces of a range of sizes, run mainly by the local London boroughs, although other owners include the National Trust and the City of London Corporation.

Royal parks [edit]

St James's Park Lake in Westminster, looking east from the Blue Bridge towards the London Eye.

The centrepieces of London's park system are the eight Royal Parks of London. Covering 1976 hectares,^[1] they are former royal hunting grounds which are now open to the public. Four of these — Green Park (16 ha), St. James's Park (34 ha), Hyde Park (140 ha), and Kensington Gardens (111 ha) — form a green strand through the western side of the city centre, whilst a fifth, Regent's Park (197 ha) is just to the north. The remaining three Royal Parks are in the suburbs — Greenwich Park (73 ha) to the south east, and Bushy Park (450 ha) and Richmond Park (955 ha) to the south west.

Garden squares [edit]

View of the centre of Gordon Square.

Many of the smaller green spaces in central London are garden squares, which were built for the private use of the residents of the fashionable districts, but in some cases are now open to the public. Notable examples open to the public are Russell Square in Bloomsbury, Lincoln's Inn Fields in Holborn and Soho Square in Soho.

The Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea contains over a hundred garden squares whose use is restricted to residents. The upkeep of these squares is paid for through a levy on top of residents' council tax.^[2]

Council parks [edit]

The bathing pond at Victoria Park. Unused for bathing since the 1930s.

In addition to these spaces, a large number of council-owned parks were developed between the mid 19th century and the Second World War, including Victoria Park (86.18 ha),^[3] Alexandra Park (80 ha) and Battersea Park (83 ha).^[4]

Other green spaces [edit]

Highgate model boating pond near Parliament Hill

Other major open spaces in the suburbs include:

• Hampstead Heath, 320 hectares^[5]
• Clapham Common, 89 hectares^[6]
• Wandsworth Common, 73 hectares
• Wimbledon Common, about 460 hectares^[7]
• Epping Forest, 2,476 hectares^[8]
• Trent Park 169 hectares^[9]
• Hainault Forest Country Park 136 hectares^[10]
• Mitcham Common 182 hectares^[11]
• South Norwood Country Park 47 hectares^[12]
• Wildspace Conservation Park 645 hectares^[13]
• Watling Chase 18,840 hectares^[14]
• Thames Chase 9,842 hectares^[15]

They have a more informal and semi-natural character, having originally been countryside areas protected against surrounding urbanisation. Some cemeteries provide extensive green land within the city — notably Highgate Cemetery, burial place of Karl Marx and Michael Faraday amongst others. Completing London's array of green spaces are two paid entrance gardens — the leader is the Royal Botanic Garden at Kew, whilst the royal residence of Hampton Court Palace also has a celebrated garden. All Outer London boroughs contain sections of the metropolitan green belt.^[16] Furthermore one of the great legacies of the 2012 Olympic Games in London will be the development of the largest (200ha) urban park in Europe at Stratford in East London.^[17]

Commons [edit]

There are over a hundred registered commons in London, ranging in size from small fragments of land to large expanses.

Greenways [edit]

The Greenway East London

There are several types of London greenways including The Greenway and the Thames Path.

By location [edit]

City of London Westminster Kensington and Chelsea Hammersmith and Fulham Wandsworth Lambeth Southwark Tower Hamlets Hackney Islington Camden Brent Ealing Hounslow Richmond Kingston upon Thames Merton

Sutton Croydon Bromley Lewisham Greenwich Bexley Havering Barking and Dagenham Redbridge Newham Waltham Forest Haringey Enfield Barnet Harrow Hillingdon

References [edit]

External links [edit]

• London Parks and Gardens Trust
• London Landscape Architecture Visitors Guide
• Green-Spaces Guide to London
• Green Spaces Near You in London

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