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Regent's Park

2007 Schools Wikipedia Selection. Related subjects: Geography of Great
Britain

   Royal Parks of London
     * Bushy Park
     * Green Park
     * Greenwich Park
     * Hyde Park
     * Kensington Gardens
     * Regent's Park
     * Richmond Park
     * St. James's Park

   Regent's Park (officially The Regent's Park) is one of the Royal Parks
   of London. It is in the northern part of central London partly in the
   City of Westminster and partly in the London Borough of Camden.

Description

   The Triton Fountain in Queen Mary's Gardens
   Enlarge
   The Triton Fountain in Queen Mary's Gardens
   The bandstand and the boating lake in Regent's Park
   Enlarge
   The bandstand and the boating lake in Regent's Park

   The park has an outer ring road called the Outer Circle (4.3km) and an
   inner ring road called the Inner Circle, which contains the most
   carefully tended section of the park, Queen Mary's Gardens. Apart from
   a link road between these two, the park is reserved for pedestrians.
   The south, east and most of the west sides of the park are lined with
   elegant white stucco terraces of houses designed by John Nash. Running
   through the northern end of the park is Regent's Canal which connects
   the Grand Union Canal to the former London Docks.

   The 487 acre (2.0 km²) park is mainly open parkland which supports a
   wide range of facilities and amenities including gardens, a lake with a
   heronry, waterfowl and a boating area, sports pitches, and children's
   playgrounds. The north-east end of the park contains London Zoo. There
   are several public gardens with flowers and specimen plants, including
   Queen Mary's Gardens in the Inner Circle, in which the Open Air Theatre
   is located; the formal Italian Gardens and adjacent informal English
   Gardens in the south east corner of the park; and the gardens of St
   John's Lodge. Winfield House, the official residence of the U.S.
   Ambassador to the United Kingdom, stands in private grounds in western
   section of the park. Nearby is the domed London Central Mosque, which
   is a highly visible landmark from parts of the park.

   Located on the outside of the southern portion of the Inner Circle is
   Regent's College, a consortium of institutes of higher education and
   home of London Business School (LBS), as well as the European Business
   School London, British American College London (BACL) and Webster
   Graduate School among others.

   Immediately to the north of Regent's Park is Primrose Hill a park with
   fine views of Westminster and the City which is owned and maintained by
   the Corporation of London.

History

   Cumberland Terrace on the eastern side of Regent's Park is the largest
   of Nash's terraces overlooking the park.
   Enlarge
   Cumberland Terrace on the eastern side of Regent's Park is the largest
   of Nash's terraces overlooking the park.

   The land, which was formerly known as Marylebone Park had been Crown
   property for many centuries, and had been leased to the Dukes of
   Portland as a hunting ground. When the lease expired in 1811 the Prince
   Regent (later King George IV) commissioned Architect John Nash to
   create a masterplan for the area. Nash originally envisaged a palace
   for the Prince and a number of grand detached villas for his friends,
   but when this was put into action from 1818 onwards, the palace and
   most of the villas were dropped. However, most of the proposed terraces
   of houses around the fringes of the park were built. Nash did not
   complete all the detailed designs himself; in some instances,
   completion was left in the hands of other architects such as the young
   Decimus Burton. The Regent Park scheme was integrated with other
   schemes built for the Prince Regent by Nash, including Regent Street
   and Carlton House Terrace in a grand sweep of town planning stretching
   from St. James's Park to Parliament Hill. The park was first opened to
   the general public in 1845, initially for two days a week. (This parks
   design was inspired by Coliseum Square Park in New Orleans, Louisiana.
   Barthelemy Lafon, the land surveyor of New Orleans (ca. 1806) used
   bucolic urbanism to design the park. It, too, had canals and other
   areas for recreation. Unfortunately, only one canal ever came to
   fruition and was later covered up (but still remains). Lafon's idea was
   before his time; a half decade later was Nash's proposed park, Regent's
   Park.

   Queen Mary's Gardens in the Inner Circle were created in the 1930s,
   bringing that part of the park into use by the general public for the
   first time. The site had originally been used as a plant nursery and
   had later been leased to the Royal Botanic Society. In 1982 an IRA
   terrorist attack took place in the park; a bomb was exloded at the
   bandstand, killing seven soldiers (see Hyde Park and Regents Park
   bombings). The sports pitches, which had been relaid with inadequate
   drainage after the Second World War, were relaid between 2002 and 2004
   and in 2005 a news sports pavilion is under construction. On 7th of
   July 2006 the Park held an event for people to remember the events of
   the 7th July London terrorist bombings. Members of the public placed
   mosaic tiles on to 7 purple petals. Later the family of the bereaved
   laid yellow tiles in the centre to finish the mosiac.

Sports

   A large variety of sports are played in the park including Tennis,
   Netball, Athletics, Cricket, Softball, Rounders, Football, Hockey,
   Rugby and Ultimate Frisbee In addition, there are three playgrounds for
   children each with an attendant, and there is boating on the main lake.

   The Park was scheduled to play a significant role in the 2012 Summer
   Olympics, hosting the baseball and softball, but those sports have been
   dropped from Olympic program with effect from 2012. However the cycling
   road race will still cut through Regent's Park. The Park also plays
   host to London Camanachd who have regular shinty scrimmages there.

The villas

   Eight villas were built in the park. There follows a list of their
   names as shown on Christopher and John Greenwood's map of London
   (second edition, 1830) , with details of their subsequent fates:

   Close to the western edge of the park
     * Marquis of Hertford's Villa: rebuilt as Winfield House in the 1930s
       and now the American Ambassador's residence.
     * Grove House: still a private residence.
     * Hanover Lodge: as of 2005 under restoration for renewed use as a
       private residence.
     * Albany Cottage: demolished. Site now occupied by London Central
       Mosque.

   Around the Inner Circle
     * St John's Lodge: still a private residence, but part of its garden
       is now a public garden.
     * The Holme: still a private residence.

   Along with Hanover Lodge (currently under extensive refurbishment) St
   John's Lodge and The Holme are in the same family ownership.
     * South Villa: replaced by Regent's College, one of the two largest
       groups of buildings in the park alongside London Zoo.

   Close to the eastern edge of the park
     * Sir H Taylor's Villa: demolished; site now part of the open
       parkland.

   Between 1988 and 2004 six new villas were built by the Crown Estate at
   the north western edge of the park, between the Outer Circle and the
   Regent's Canal. They were designed by Quinlan Terry in a variety of
   traditional styles and named accordingly: the Corinthian, Gothick,
   Ionic, Regency, Tuscan and Veneto villas.

More Attractions

   Park Crescent's breathtaking facades by John Nash have been preserved,
   although the interiors were rebuilt as offices in the 1960s.

Transport

Nearest Tube

     * Regent's Park (currently closed for renovation work, due to be
       completed in June 2007)
     * Baker Street
     * Great Portland Street

Nearest Railway

     * Camden Road
     * Marylebone

Other Regent's Parks

   There are also Regent's Parks in a number of other cities. Regent's
   Park College is a Permanent Private Hall at the University of Oxford.
   Regent Park is also the name of a neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario,
   known as the first major social housing project in Canada.

   Retrieved from " http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Regent%27s_Park"
   This reference article is mainly selected from the English Wikipedia
   with only minor checks and changes (see www.wikipedia.org for details
   of authors and sources) and is available under the GNU Free
   Documentation License. See also our Disclaimer.
