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Kensington Gardens
Kensington Gardens is arguably the most beautiful of all the royal parks in London with its avenues of magnificent trees and ornamental flower beds. It is located immediately to the west of Hyde Park mostly in the City of Westminster, but a small section to the west is in the borough of Kensington and Chelsea. It covers 275 acres. It is sometimes regarded as being part of Hyde Park itself, but West Carriage Drive forms a clear boundary between the two.
Together with Hyde Park, Green Park and St. James's Park, these parks form an almost continuous "green lung" in the heart of London between Kensington and Westminster.
Kensington Palace, one of the great royal palaces lies within the western boundary and Kensington Gardens once formed its private garden. William and Mary were the first royal occupants of the palace in 1689. Mary commissioned Henry Wise and George London to design the landscape of the gardens with box hedging and rows of tulips, but in later times Queen Anne had the plants dug up and replaced with a more relaxed, English style of planting. The Orangery designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor was built between 1704-1705 and is still in use today. Anne was also responsible for the stone summerhouse which now stands at the north end of the fountains close to Lancaster Gate.
In 1725-1726 George I introduced some exotic animals to the gardens including wild cats, but they did not stay long and were relocated to the menagerie in the Tower of London. George II later created the Broad Walk and Round Pond which was originally intended to be rectangular. It was not until the 1830's that the public was allowed into the gardens at any time of the year, by which time the palace for the reigning sovereign had moved to Buckingham Palace.
The Serpentine Gallery is an art gallery in Kensington Gardens which focuses on modern and contemporary art. Established in 1970 and housed in a classical 1934 tea pavilion, it takes its name from the nearby Serpentine Lake.
Other features of the gardens include the Albert Memorial, Speke's monument and the Peter Pan statue. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kensington_Gardens)
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