About Hyde Park
Henry VIII took this land from Westminster Abbey in 1536 to use as a hunting ground; today the biggest effort around here is finding a patch of sunny grass. The park covers 140 hectares and is cut through by the Serpentine, a lake formed by damming a river and completed in 1733.
In the northeast corner, near Marble Arch, Speakers' Corner has hosted open speeches and debates since 1872, and you can stop to listen to whoever is talking. South of the lake is the memorial fountain for Diana, opened in 2004. In 1851, the park hosted the Great Exhibition, in a crystal palace that was later dismantled and moved to Sydenham Hill.
