One of the Royal Parks in London, Regent’s Park covers 197 hectares. It was part of Henry VIII’s royal chase. This originally was part of a vast forest and known as Marylebone Park. In fact, King Henry VIII seized the park in 1538 from the owner of Abbess of Barking. Prince Regent (later King George IV) asked John Nash to develop it.
The design of it is round with a series of different sections with lakes, canals. It was supposed to be summer palace ground but it was never built. And it was supposed to be linked by a processional road to Prince’s other home at St James’s Palace. The road we know as Regents Street today. The plan never completed since the Prince focused on developing Buckingham Palace instead.
The general public was allowed to enter the park in 1835, but only part of it and for a limited time. In the 1930s Queen Mary’s Garden was created. You will also find the London Zoo on these grounds.
The park has a ring road called Outer Circle. This is in combination with an inner road called the Inner Circle. There are formal gardens and an informal English garden. And don’t miss out on Queen Mary’s Rose Garden.