Hyde Park
One of the largest open spaces in London, England, occupying over 138 ha/340 acres in Westminster, and adjoining Kensington Gardens to the west. It includes the Serpentine, a boating lake; and Rotten Row, a riding track. Open-air meetings are held at Speakers' Corner, in the northeast corner near Marble Arch. In 1851 the Great Exhibition was held here.

The southeast corner of the park is known as Hyde Park Corner.
The park was originally part of the Manor of Hyde, owned by Westminster Abbey, until it was taken by Henry VIII in 1536 at the time of the Dissolution of the Monasteries. It then became a royal deer park until it was opened to the public by Charles I. It was sold by Parliament in 1652, but reverted to the Crown at the Restoration. It became a fashionable coach- and horse-racing track, a rendezvous for duellists, and from its northwest corner crowds used to watch executions at Tyburn. The Serpentine (1730-33) was formed on the course of the old Westbourne River. The Great Exhibition of 1851 was housed in the Crystal Palace, a glass and iron construction moved to Sydenham Hill in 1854, where it burned down in 1936. In 1855 a large number of people gathered illegally in the northeast corner of the park to demonstrate against the Sunday
Trading Bill. There were further demonstrations, and the right of assembly in the park was recognized in 1872, the site becoming Speakers' Corner.

Kew Gardens
Popular name for the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Surrey, England. They were founded 1759 by Augusta of Saxe-Coburg (1719-1772), the mother of King George III, as a small garden and passed to the nation by Queen Victoria 1840. By then they had expanded to almost their present size of 149 hectares/368 acres and since 1841 have been open daily to the public. They contain a collection of over 25,000 living plant species and many fine buildings. The gardens are also a centre for botanical research.
The herbarium is the biggest in the world, with over 5 million dried plant specimens. Kew also has a vast botanical library, the Jodrell Laboratory, and three museums. The buildings include the majestic Palm House 1848, the Temperate House 1862, both designed by Decimus
Burton, and the Chinese Pagoda, some 50 m/165 ft tall, designed by William Chambers 1761. More recently, two additions have been made to the glasshouses: the Alpine House 1981 and the Princess of Wales Conservatory, a futuristic building for plants from ten different climatic zones, 1987. Much of the collection of trees at Kew was destroyed by a gale 1987.

Since 1964 there have been additional grounds at Wakehurst Place, Ardingly, West Sussex. The seeds of 5,000 species are preserved there in the seed physiology department, 2% of those known to exist in the world. Kew received £21 million from the Millennium Commission Dec 1995 to construct a new seed bank.

Regent's Park
Covering 188 ha/464 acres. It contains London Zoo. Regent's Canal runs through the park, which was laid out by John Nash for the Prince Regent, later George IV. Grand terraced residences, which overlook the park, were designed by Nash and by Decimus Burton (1800-81).

The park was developed on the site of Marylebone Gardens and pasture land. It formed part of a scheme, begun in 1812, to connect the Prince's residence (Carlton House) in the Mall, via Regent Street, with another residence (never built) in the new park. The park was opened to
the public in 1838.

Bedford College (now part of Royal Holloway College) was located here 1909-85. There is an open-air theatre in the Inner Circle of the park.