A Hyde Park Walk
Route & what to see
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london-footprints.co.uk |
A 3 mile linear walk from Victoria Station through Hyde Park. There is some overlap with the Knightsbridge & Hyde Park route.
Exit the station and walk
through Grosvenor Gardens.
The south garden has a statue of Marshal Foch, Alien and two
shell-decorated buildings which were a gift of the French
government in 1952. The north garden was restored in 1999-2000
and has two large figures of a lioness and a kudo by Jonathan
Kenworthy. Just outside is a monument to the rifle brigade and a
cabmen's shelter.
Left at Hobart Place and right
into Eaton Square.
St Peter's church was designed in Greek revival style in 1824-7
by JH Hakewill. It was rebuilt after a fire in 1987.
Continue along Upper Belgrave
Street then Belgrave Square.
There are a number of embassies. Seaford House (No 37) was
designed by Philip Hardwick in 1842-5 for the 3rd Earl of Sefton.
Exit via Grosvenor Crescent
then go left at Grosvenor Place.
The Lanesborough Hotel was formerly St George's Hospital
(see plaque).
Cross and enter the park by
the Apsley Gate alongside Hyde Park Corner Lodge (park
information centre).
The Greek Revival screen (1826-9) and lodge (1822) were
designed by Decimus Burton.
Walk through the flower
gardens between Rotten Row and Serpentine Road.
Rotten Row was created by William III to link Whitehall with
his Kensington Palace and is a corruption of 'route de roi'. It
was the first lamplit road in the country. In the gardens are two
fountains: Boy & Dolphin (1862) by Alexander Munro and The
Huntress (1906) by Countess Feodora Gleichen.
Detour left to the Holocaust
Memorial
This piece of 1983 by Mark
Badger consists of two boulders set in raked gravel and
surrounded by silver birch trees. The inscription reads 'For
these I weep. Streams of tears flow from my eyes because of the
destruction of my people'. Across the path is an area known as
The Dell.
Take the path towards the cafe
On the corner there is an urn monument to Abbey Spring. The
conduit from this spring supplied the precincts of Westminster
until 1861 when it was cut off by the railways. The conduit house
was removed in 1867 and the current urn feature erected the
following year. The Dell Restaurant was designed by Patrick
Gwynne.
Bear right towards Park Lane
52 steel columns commemorate the people killed in the London
terror bombings in July 2005 and was unveiled on the fourth
anniversary of the disaster. The pillars, representing the 52
victims, are grouped to reflect the four locations of the
incidents. Constructed from stainless steel, each pillar measures
3.5 metres high and is inscribed with the place and time. A
plaque listing the names of the victims is sited alongside. The
memorial was produced by architects Carmody Groarke and
engineering team Arup, who worked in consultation with the
bereaved families. It was cast by Sheffield foundry Norton Cast
Products.
From here go NW towards the
Reformer's Tree. Follow the Diana Trail westwards.
The Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk is a 7 mile circular
walk waymarked around the Royal Parks, passing places that
featured in the Princess's life. The Old Police House was built
in 1900-2 on the site of the Magazine Barracks.
Go southwards to the
Serpentine then right along the lakeside path.
This was created in the 1730s from an existing string of
fishponds. On the right is the Receiving House plaque and the
Norweigan War Memorial. Erected in 1978 this consists of a large
piece of pre-Cambrian granite mounted on three smaller stones. It
was presented by the navy and merchant fleet. The inscription
reads 'You gave us a safe haven in our common struggle for
freedom and peace'. On the left are two boathouses. The East Boat
House was erected in 1903 by the Royal Humane Society and the
West Boat House of 1952 replaces one damaged in the war. Further
along is The Magazine, used for storing gunpowder. Originally
built in 1764-5 it has had later alterations. In 2013 it was
converted into the Serpentine Sackler Gallery to the designs of
Zaha Hadid with a new restaurant building.
Cross the bridge over the
Serpentine
The bridge was designed by John & George Rennie in 1825-8.
Detour to the left.
The 260' x 150' oval water
feature was designed as a memorial to Diana Princess of Wales by
Kathryn Gustafson & Neil Porter at a cost of 3.6 million.
It is made from Cornish stone which was cut in Northern Ireland.
Spring water is pumped from a 200m borehole via a holding tank to
the highest point 'The Source' from where it flows east and west.
The east arm goes via steps and a curved area to the Swoosh which
has 5 water jet patterns. Water flows west via a Mountain Stream
and Cascade of white water. The two flows meet at the Reflecting
Pool from where the water is pumped into the Serpentine. The
channels vary from 6' to 18' wide and shallow to 18" in
depth. It was opened by the Queen on 6th July 2004. There were
initial problems with flooding caused by the pumps clogging with
leaves. Then the water was turned off and the feature closed to
the public on 22 July after 3 people were injured in falls. The
memorial has since re-opened but with restrictions. The Lido
Pavilion of 1930 is now used as a cafe. It was built under the
direction of Lord Lansbury and commemorates J O Cooper, a member
of the RFC who was killed in WW1 aged 20.
Exit via Rutland Gate into Kensington Road for buses.
Resources
Buildings and Monuments in the Royal Parks
A Walk for Diana by Tom Corby & Lucy Trench
Diana Memorial walk [webpage]
london-footprints.co.uk 2015