Richmond Park

From Free net encyclopedia

Royal Parks of London
Bushy Park Green Park Greenwich Park Hyde Park Kensington Gardens Regent's Park Richmond Park St. James's Park

Image:Isabella Plantation - Richmond Park - London - England - 120604.jpg Richmond Park is the largest of the Royal Parks in London. It is close to Richmond upon Thames, Kingston upon Thames, Wimbledon, Roehampton and East Sheen.

The park covers almost 2,500 acres (10 km²) and is Europe's largest urban walled park.

1 Significant features
2 Plantings
3 Wildlife
4 History
5 Access
6 References
7 External links

[edit]

Significant features

It contains the Isabella Plantation, an important and attractive woodand garden and a major visitor attraction in its own right.

There is a protected view of St Paul's Cathedral, which is 12 miles away, from King Henry VIII's Mound in the park.

Pembroke Lodge stands within the park, in its own gardens. Originally a home of 1st Earl Russell, it is now a restaurant.

The Royal Ballet School has been based for many years in the park, at White Lodge, where younger ballet students continue to be trained.

[edit]

Plantings

The park's open slopes and woods are based on lowland acid soils. The grassland is mostly managed by grazing. The park contains numerous woods and copses, many created with donations from members of the public.

One such area is Queen Mother's Copse, a small triangular enclosure on the woodland hill halfway between Robin Hood Gate and Ham Gate, established in memory of the late Queen Elizabeth Bowes-Lyon, the Queen Mother.

Another is Bone Copse which was named in 2005. It was started by the Bone family in 1988 by purchasing and planting a tree from the Park authorities in memory of Bessie Bone who died in that year. Trees have been added annually, and in 1994 her husband Frederick Bone also died. The annual planting has been continued by their children.

[edit]

Wildlife

Image:Richmond Park - London - England - 02102005.jpg

Herds of red and fallow deer roam freely within much of the park.

It is an important refuge for many other types of wildlife, including squirrels, rabbits, stag beetles and many other insects, numerous ancient trees, and many varieties of fungi.

Richmond Park is a Site of Special Scientific Interest, a National Nature Reserve and a Special Area of Conservation for the Stag beetle.

[edit]

History

Originally agricultural lands used as the Royal deer hunting grounds of Edward I, the park was not enclosed until 1637.

Public access to the park was secured in the 18th century after a protracted legal battle.

[edit]

Access

The park has public roads running through it, however these are only open during daylight hours, the speed limit is 20 mph, and no commercial vehicles apart from taxis are allowed.

The park is enclosed with a high wall with several gates. The gates open to motor traffic are Sheen Gate, Richmond Gate, Ham Gate, Kingston Gate, and Roehampton Gate. Robin Hood Gate (close to the Robin Hood roundabout on the A3) was closed to motor vehicles in 2003 as part of a traffic reduction trial — the Department for Culture, Media and Sport is presently deciding whether to re-open the gate in line with requests from local councils.

Residents near the park are divided on the issue of banning motor traffic from it altogether.

The park also has designated bridleways and cycle paths. The most prominent cycle path provides an entire loop of the park, mainly following its perimeter.

Richmond Park is also the name of a Parliamentary constituency comprising some of the districts that surround the park — Richmond-upon-Thames, Barnes, Kew, Ham, Petersham, Sheen and parts of Kingston-upon-Thames. The present MP is Susan Kramer.