Regent’s Park was once part of the extensive Forest of Middlesex. On the Dissolution of the Monasteries, Henry VIII acquired the Manor of Tyburn and created a hunting ground, Marylebone Park.

During the Commonwealth, Oliver Cromwell leased the land but it was reclaimed by Charles II in 1660.

In 1806, the land was identified as suitable for development and John Nash was appointed Architect to the Department of Woods and Forests. Designed for the ‘wealthy and good’, Nash planned a summer residence for the Prince Regent with 50 detached villas and terraces around the exterior of the Park.

Nash relied on the property developer James Burton, for both moral and financial support after the Crown Estate refused to finance the project.

Work began in 1812 but the scheme proved unprofitable. By 1830, the lake and most of the terraces had been built but the summer house never materialised and the number of villas was reduced to 8. Nash also had shares in the Regent’s Park Canal company which was built in 1816 and connects the Grand Union Canal to the London Docks.

In 1828, a menagerie was established by the Zoological Society of London. Granted a Royal Charter by George in 1829, Charles Darwin was a frequent visitor.

The need to provide public spaces for recreation was recognised by Parliament, and in 1835, the general public were allowed into part of Regent’s Park on two days of the week.

In 1840, the Royal Botanic Society leased land with Decimus Burton commissioned to design the layout. A large conservatory was built as well as palm-houses and a water-lily house.

The garden designer William Nesfield was consulted in late 1850s after many of the trees in the Broad Walk became diseased. He redesigned the area which is now known as the Avenue Gardens.

Concerts were held in the English Gardens. Edward Walford described in ‘Old and New London’, 1878, how: ‘During the summer months a band plays on Sunday afternoons on the green-sward by the side of the long avenue, and is the means of attracting thousands of the working classes thither’.

In 1867, 40 people drowned when the ice on the boating lake gave in.

In 1932, the Royal Botanic Society’s lease came to an end and the site was used to create Queen Mary’s Gardens. Today this area includes the Rose Gardens, Japanese Gardens, herbaceous borders and the lake.

During World War II, the Nash terraces were bombed. In 1957, the Crown Estate Commissioners agreed that the Terraces would be restored.

Between 1988 and 2004, the Crown Estate commissioned the neo-classical architect Quinlan Terry to design 6 villas to the north-west of the park.

In 2005, a new sports pavilion was built.

The first makeshift theatre at Regent’s Park was opened in 1932 with a production of Twelfth Night. The current auditorium was built in 1974.

LONDON ZOO

Sir Stamford Raffles, governor of the Dutch East Indies, was elected the first president of the Zoological Society of London. In 1826, he and Sir Humphry Davy obtained land for the zoo but Raffles died of a stroke later that year. The 3rd Marquess of Lansdowne took over the project and the zoo opened in 1828. The Society was granted a royal charter by George IV in 1829, and in 1847, the zoo was opened to the public.

Decimus Burton was appointed to work on the gardens and animal houses.

Initially, all the tropical animals were kept indoors as it was thought they would not survive the British climate. Many died from lack of fresh air and exercise until 1902 when Peter Chalmers Mitchell set up a major reorganisation of the zoo. Chalmers Mitchell was also instrumental in buying land at Whipsnade.

I remember as a child riding camels and elephants at London Zoo and watching the chimpanzee’s tea party – I cringe at the memory.