Two Parks – Day

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The Two Parks – Daylight Route (4.3 miles)

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Route in figures

Route Summary

Distance 4.3
Traffic-Free 9/10
Hills 1/10

Large scale map
Route details

A totally traffic-free course right in the centre of London. The route follows the outer perimeter of Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens.

For visitors to London, this is a splendid way to see Marble Arch, Speakers’ Corner, Kensington Palace, the Albert Hall and Hyde Park Corner.

This route is only suitable for daylight hours, because Kensington Gardens is closed when it is dark. If you want to run when it is dark, see the evening route variant of this route.

 

“Digital Data © Geoinformation Group (2003)”

[[:scrollbox_begin]] Map of the Two Parks - Daylight Route [[:scrollbox_end]]

Start and finish

The route starts and finishes at Speakers’ Corner, near Marble Arch.

If you are a member of the Serpentine Running Club, or if you are running with us on Saturday morning, you can use the shower and changing facilities at the Seymour Leisure Centre, which is half a mile from the start and finish of this route.

There are public toilets at Marble Arch.

Map of Speakers' Corner

“Digital Data © Geoinformation Group (2003)”

Route Details

Mile Directions
0 Start at lamppost number 2, next to Cumberland Gate. Head west, away from Marble Arch, along the cycle path. Follow the cycle path to the right, and cross North Carriage Drive.
0.1 Turn left left just before you reach Bayswater Road, along the path inside the park. Follow the footpath, with North Carriage drive to the left and Bayswater Road to the right.
0.5 Cross the road. During daylight hours, bear left and keep Victoria Lodge to your right. (In the evenings, Kensington Gardens are closed and you will have to follow the winter variant of this route). Keep the green railings on your right, and pass Buckhill Lodge to your right.
0.7 Pass a water fountain to your left. Keep along the edge of the park.
1.0 One mile is reached as you pass a gate to your right, leading to the Thistle Hyde Park Hotel.
1.2 Cross the Broadwalk (a footpath). The Princess Diana Memorial Gardens are to the left, Black Lion Lodge is to the right.
1.3 At the end of the path, as you reach the wall of the coach park, turn left towards Kensington Palace. The Silver Limes along this path were presented by the people of Berlin.
1.6 Go through the pedestrian gate at the end, and past the Orangery on the left. Turn left just before the State Apartments. 30m later, turn right into the Sunken Garden, and run round the three sides of the sunken garden. Turn right out of the garden, and right again on to the Broad Walk.
1.8 Pass the statue of Victoria to the right. Turn right just past the statue and pass in front of Kensington Palace. At the end of the path, turn left, and follow the path along the brick wall.
2.0 The two mile mark is a bricked up gateway in the wall on your right, visible because of two white stone blocks in the wall buttresses.
2.1 Follow the path to the left, keeping as close to the edge of the park as you can, and turn first right.
2.2 Turn left, signposted to the Albert Memorial, along the path just inside the perimeter of the park, with public toilets to your right.
2.4 With gates to the right, the footpath widens into a roadway.
2.5 Pass between the Albert Memorial to the left and the Royal Albert Hall to the right.
2.6 Cross the road. Follow the footpath ahead, on the left hand side of the road alongside the horse riding track.
3.0 The three mile mark is the tower block on the right hand side of the road, housing the troops at Hyde Park barracks
3.3 Follow the path to the right and turn left onto the footpath alongside the road (South Carriage Drive). Cross South Carriage Drive when it is safe.
3.7 Stay on the footpath, and go out of the Queen Elizabeth Gate. Turn left up Park Lane for 30m. Pass the statue of Achilles on the left, and turn back into the park through the second gate. This path is called “Lovers’ Walk”.
3.8 The lamppost in the middle of the path marks the point where you have half a mile to go.
4.0 At the Joy of Life Fountain, keep right, and go round the statue anticlockwise. Take the first path to the right.
4.1 Turn right next to the cycle path. Keep straight ahead when the cycle path bends to the left, and go into Speakers’ Corner.
4.3 Finish at the solitary lamppost in the middle of Speakers’ Corner.

Sights and history

Hyde Park was enclosed by Henry VIII in 1536 to be used as a deer chase. In 1637, it was opened as a public park, and the crowds came to watch horse-racing and other sports. Deer were still hunted here during the 18th century, and finally disappeared in about 1840. The Great Exhibition took place here in 1851, between Rotten Row and Knightsbridge, and the profit was used to establish the museums in South Kensington.

Hyde Park has an area of 361 acres, and Kensington Gardens around 274 acres.

Marble Arch was designed by John Nash in 1827. Made of white Italian marble, it was intended to stand in front of Buckingham Palace to celebrate the end of the Napoleonic Wars. But the arch was too narrow for the Gold Stage Coach, and in 1837, the arch was dismantled and moved to its present position, which is the site of the Tyburn gallows.

Speakers’ Corner was established in 1872. Contrary to the urban legend, there is no particular right of free speech at Speakers’ Corner: there is, however, a right of assembly.

At Victoria Gate, where you cross the road leading out of the park, is the famous pet cemetery established in 1880. The gravestones can be seen from the Bayswater Road.

As you cross the road, you enter Kensington Gardens. These were once the private gardens of Kensington Palace. Their design is due to Queen Caroline, wife of George II.

At the north end of Long Water (as the section of the Serpentine in Kensington Gardens is called) are the Italian Gardens – a paved garden with pavilion and fountains. Note the 1796 statue on the left of Edward Jenner, the man who discovered vaccination. On your right is the Queen Anne’s Alcove designed by Kent.

The Long Water, Kensington GardensTo your left is Long Water – the name for the Serpentine Lake in Kensington Gardens. The Lake was created by damning the river Westbourne, which flows down to the Thames (this river accounts for many of the local place names: Knightsbridge, Pont Street, the Swan Pub on Bayswater). It was in this lake that Harriet Westbrook, first wife of the poet Shelley, drowned herself in 1816.

The Orangery was built in 1704 by Hawksmoor and Vanbrugh, with a massive stone centrepiece by Hawksmoor. It is open as a cafe, and inside you will see a second century marble crater with Roman reliefs which was found in Hadrian’s Villa in Tivoli.

Kensington Palace was built in 1605, and bought in 1689 by William III (of whom there is a statue behind the front gates). From then until the death of George II in 1760 it was a residence of the reigning sovereign. The old house was altered and extended by Sir Christopher Wren. In recent years it has been used as a high class apartment block for the minor royals, most notably Princess Diana.

The Albert Memorial (1864-1872) is a mid-Victorian monument to Albert, consort of Queen Victoria. Designed by Sir Gilbert Scott, the centrepiece is a 14ft statue of the Prince Consort made of gun metal, surrounded by statues.

Royal Albert HallThe Royal Albert Hall was build in 1867-1871. The round hall was designed by Captain Fowke, a Royal Engineer. It is almost a quarter of a mile in circumference. The Royal Albert Hall is the site of the annual Proms concerts, including the Last Night of the Proms.

At three miles, you pass the Knightsbridge Barracks and stables on your right. These were built in 1970. 270 horses are stabled in the East Wing. In 1984, the IRA planted a bomb which killed several guardsmen and horses, not far from the Cavalry Memorial near the bandstand.

At Edinburgh Gate on the right, admire the Pan sculpture by Jacob Epstein, finished in 1959. This was his last work.

The Triumphal Arch at Hyde Park Corner was built in 1828, designed by Decimus Burton. The Wellington Monument (the statue of Wellington on the back of his favourite horse, Copenhagen) is by Boehm.

When Diana, Princess of Wales died in a car crash in 1997, her funeral procession began at her apartments at Kensington Palace. It passed through Hyde Park, down Constitution Hill, The Mall, Horse Guards, Whitehall then to Westminster Abbey for a funeral service.

In Hyde Park Corner, glance to your right at Apsley House on the other side of the road, the London home of the “Iron” Duke of Wellington, victor at Waterloo and later Prime Minister. This was the site of a pub, and then the old lodge of Hyde Park. The house was built in the 1780s, and bought by Wellington in 1817. In 1947, the 7th Duke of Wellington presented the house to the nation. The museum contains mainly artefacts associated with the Duke of Wellington including his death mask and his and Napoleon’s swords from Waterloo.

As you leave Hyde Park on to Park Lane, you pass through the over-ornate Queen Elizabeth Gate, erected in 1993 to celebrate the Queen Mother’s 93rd birthday, and paid for by public subscription. The stainless steel and bronze gates were designed by Giuseppe Lund, and the lion and unicorn panels were sculpted by David Wynne.

Then to your left is the Achilles Statue by Richard Westmacott, cast from captured cannon, in honour of the Duke of Wellington. It was the first nude statue in England, and said to have embarrassed the women who presented it to Wellington. Opposite, in the centre of the road, is a bust of the poet Byron and his dog, Bo’sun, by Belt.

As you return to Speakers’ Corner, spare a thought for the victims of the Tyburn Gallows, commemorated by a stone in the railings in Bayswater Road. The gallows here were first a tree, then a gibbet and finally an iron triangle for multiple executions. 72,000 people died here during the reign of Henry VIII alone. The condemned were drawn through the streets from the Tower or from Newgate, and then hanged (and often drawn and quartered too) before the huge crowds which gathered to hear the last words, and to enjoy the side shows. Popular victims were toasted in gin or beer as they passed.

Owen Barder