Kensington Gardens

Kensington Gardens is a large, enclosed public park in London, England. It is contiguous with the arguably better known Hyde Park, and spans a land mass of some 1.1 square kilometers, making it slightly smaller than its neighbor but still one of the largest Royal Parks of London.

Kensington Gardens was once the private gardens to the nearby Kensington Palace, laid out by Henry Wise and Charles Bridgeman between 1728 and 1738. Gardens were often used as fashionable additions to grand houses and, like all things, had trends; those built at Kensington Gardens are reflective of the trends of the time. The Gardens play host to the Round Pond, which contrary to its name is not actually round – it is more rectangular shape, with the corners rounded.

There is also a sunken Dutch garden, an area distinguished by its dense atmosphere and creative use of shape. A Dutch garden is an rectangular shaped garden, with paths and shrubs meandering in geometrical patterns and the entire area is usually enclosed. This is the case of the Dutch garden at Kensington Gardens; a garden within a park. The name Dutch garden comes from the predominant use of tulips within each design. Dutch gardens were extremely popular in the 18th century – the trend of the time – and the garden at Kensington Gardens is a fantastic example of the design.

Unlike nearby Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens have a much more genteel history – perhaps due to their long use as a private garden for the monarchy, via Kensington Palace. There is a local, folklore traditional that at some point a King asked his Prime Minister of the time what the cost of enclosing the gardens and making them private once more might be. The nameless Prime Minister responded dryly: “a Crown” – not a reference to the old unit of English currency, but namely that by doing so the King would be in essence be sacrificing his own position as King!

There are several notable monuments within the boundaries of Kensington Gardens. The most stunning is the Albert Memorial, which lies directly to the north of the Royal Albert Hall and within Kensington Gardens itself. The memorial consists of an ornate Gothic style canopy, under which is a seated statue of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria I. Victoria I and Prince Albert had one of the happiest of any royal marriage, and she erected the memorial in his memory at a cost of some L120,000 following Albert’s unexpected death from typhoid in 1861. The memorial was complete and opened in 1871, a permanent reminder of the man behind the longest serving British monarch.

There is also an art gallery within Kensington Gardens; the Serpentine Gallery. The gallery focuses primarily on modern and contemporary art, and has free admission for the 750,000 visitors it receives each year. It was opened in 1970 and takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake. Its presence also gives Kensington Gardens a unique appeal, taking it beyond just another public park and into the realm of a place of true cultural significance.