London, Volume 1
Knight, Charles
1841
4. The Regent's Park.
The lies at the south foot of the conical eminence called , which is connected by a ridge somewhat lower than its summit with the higher eminence of Hampstead to the north. On the west side of a small stream is formed from the drainings of several springs, nearly-at the same elevation as the connecting ridge, which originally flowed in a southern direction across what is now the , to the west side of Marybone workhouse; thence in a direction slightly to the east of south between and the of Marybone, , and , to the mews between and ; thence turning to the west of south, it crossed the lower part of , and entering the a little to the east of the Ranger's house, crossed what was once the site of the Mulberry Garden, now the Garden of Buckingham Palace, and , to the Thames. This is the celebrated rivulet Ay-bourne or Tybourne, from which, what has been called in later days the parish and manor of Mary-le-bone, or Marybone, took their original name. The ancient Manor-house of Marybone stood opposite the church. In the time of Queen Elizabeth it was in the possession of the Crown, and mention is made of a stag having on occasion been hunted within the pale of the park attached to it for the amusement of the Russian Ambassadors. A part of the manor has ever since remained in the Crown. Out of this and some neighbouring fields, purchased for the purpose, was constructed the Park, which, by its name, reminds us of its having been projected and laid out during the Regency. | |
The south side of the is about half a mile in length, and parallel to the , which is to the south of it. The east side, nearly at right angles to the south side, extends northward to , a distance of almost -quarters of a mile. The west side, forming an oblique angle with the south side, extends in a direction west of north to , a distance of half a mile. The northern terminations of the east and west sides are connected by an irregular curve nearly coinciding with the sweep of the , which passes along and within the northern boundary of the park. A sheet of water extends from in a south-east direction parallel to the west side of the park, and curving round at a south-west angle, continues in a direction parallel to the south side to about the middle of it. Opposite the middle of the west side an arm of this sheet of water extends at right angles to the very centre of the park. The bottom of the valley, through which Tyburn rivulet flowed in days of old, stretches from its termination up to , which is nearly due north of it. Nearly -thirds of the park, forming an oblong parallelogram, slope down on the eastern side of the valley to the former channel of the stream | |
223 | and the north-east and south arms of the artificial lake which is formed by its collected waters, and which resemble, to use a simile more accurate than dignified, the arrangement of the legs on an Isle-of-Man halfpenny. Within the houses of formed by its north-east and south arms is the Ring, the interior of which is occupied by the Garden of the Botanical Society. On the eastern slope, at the north end of the park, is the Garden of the Zoological Society. On the east side of the park, a little south of , are the enclosed villa and grounds of the late Sir Herbert Taylor; on the west side, a little north of , those of the Marquis of Hertford. Along the east, south, and west sides of the park are continuous ranges of buildings, the architecture of which is in some cases sufficiently florid, in others more than sufficiently grotesque. The open north side allows the eye to range over the beautiful uplands, , Highgate, Hampstead, and the range extending westward in the direction of Harrow. |
The history of the Park, as a park, is a brief . An anonymous writer speaks of it in as adding, however, that it It is now perhaps as far advanced towards completion as human aid can bring it; time and the vegetative power of nature alone can give those dimensions to its trees that will reveal, to its full extent, the taste with which the grounds are laid out. Even in their immature state, however, the grounds have much of beauty in them, and the view to the north is an advantage possessed by none of the other parks. When has been included within the , its managers may say, As a promenade, the seems quite as much in vogue as either of the other ; as a drive, retains its uncontested supremacy. The are a source of interest not possessed by the other parks, and the is a rare attraction to sight-seers. | |
The ante-park period of the history cannot be passed over in utter silence. The ancient Manor-house, already alluded to more than once, had a bowling-green, which, at the beginning of Queen Anne's reign, was frequented by persons of rank, but afterwards fell into disrepute. The amusements of the place are alluded to by Lady Mary Wortley Montagu, who, in the line- points at John Sheffield, Duke of Buckingham, who was constant in his visits, and gave here the annual feast to his , at which his standing parting toast was-- Previous to Marybone Gardens were open to the public; after that year, according to Malcolm, -- the only instance in which we have heard of a fine imposed upon people for becoming respectable. In the gardens were finally closed. Their memory | |
224 | will be preserved by Peachum's regret that Captain Macheath should lose his money playing with lords at Marybone, and his wife's advice to Filch to resort thither in order to acquire sufficient valour to encounter the dangers of his profession with credit to himself and his patrons. |
