London has more green spaces than any other European capital, due to that particularly British combination of historical accident and philanthropic intent. Many of the large public parks which we enjoy today were once the private domain of monarchs and the landed gentry, while others appeared due to the efforts of civic-minded Victorians who believed that the poor, living in their cramped and squalid tenements, would benefit from being able to take the air in conveniently located local parks and gardens (the aptly-named Victoria Park in Tower Hamlets being a prime example of the latter).
If you were to ask the man in the street to reel off a list of the five largest open spaces in London he’s likely to respond with the names of some of the Royal Parks in town – the truth is that only one of these fits the bill in terms of land area. Ideal as a real puzzler for your next pub quiz, here’s the list of the largest open spaces in London counting down from five to one:
- Hyde Park/Kensington Gardens – covering a total of 254 hectares (630 acres) this is the largest single area of parkland in central London and draws in thousands of tourists and locals every day. At its eastern end it consists of open space criss-crossed by paths while over in the west it contains an appreciable percentage of the total number of sculptures and statues in London, the capital’s most popular boating lake and a celebrated exhibition space, the Serpentine Gallery
- Hampstead Heath – devoid of trees in the 19th century due to the constant grazing of animals brought down to London for slaughter, the 320 hectare (790 acre) heath is now heavily wooded. It’s known for its three public pools, the commanding view over London from Parliament Hill and some other things that polite company doesn’t allow me to mention!
- Bushy Park – one of those places that you’ve probably never heard of unless you live in the immediate vicinity, this 445 hectare (1100 acre) space once formed the parkland around Hampton Court Palace. During both World War I and World War II much of the park was dug up as part of the ‘Dig For Victory’ campaigns to help feed hungry Londoners.
- Wimbledon Common/Putney Heath/Putney Lower Commons – this contiguous area of open land covers 460 hectares (1,140 acres), 900 acres of which is classified as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). You’ll find one of London’s rare windmills here, as well as man-sized woodland creatures with peculiar names like Uncle Bulgaria and Tomsk.
- By far the largest of London’s open spaces, the magnificent Richmond Park encompasses over 955 hectares (2,360 acres) of land. Long used for hunting by British monarchs it is still home to large herds of deer, although you have to be lucky to spot them amongst the stands of trees scattered across its vast open spaces. I’ve visited the park on several occasions and never seen a single one!
For the avoidance of doubt I’ve omitted Epping Forest from the list because, although it is larger than many of the green spaces above, the portions that lie within London’s boundaries aren’t a continuous whole that simply require crossing a street to go from one to the next, unlike Hyde Park or Wimbledon Common.
I’d be interested to hear your thoughts on this list, so do comment in the field below.
