Hyde Park

Hyde Park is one of London's eight Royal Parks and at 142 hectares was first opened to the public in 1637 by Charles I, almost a hundred years after Henry VIII had seized the land from Westminster Abbey. At its centre lies the artificial Serpentine lake, in 1851 the setting for the Great Exhibition in the legendary Crystal Palace; the iron-and-glass building was later moved to Sydenham. The northeast corner holds Speakers' Corner, a site of guaranteed free speech since 1872 where on Sundays anyone may speak publicly. Today Londoners run, cycle and ride horses through the park; in summer they swim at the Serpentine Lido, and Winter Wonderland in December draws millions. In April the magnolias bloom spectacularly.