Introduction
Kensington Palace first became famous when it became the property of William III and Mary II. William suffered from a respiratory problem and chose this location for his palace in order to remove himself from the dampness of the Thames around Westminster Palace. He purchased Kensington Palace in 1689, and it remained a royal residence until the death of George II in the 1700s. It was the birthplace and residence of Victoria until she became queen in 1837. Many of the Royal family in this century lived for a time in this palace, including Elizabeth II’s younger sister, Margaret, and Prince Charles and (then) Princess Diana while married to him. Kensington Gardens abuts Hyde Park on the east, and is commonly— though improperly—called Hyde Park, especially by tourists. Technically, it is a separate entity divided from Hyde Park by West Carriage Drive, which turns into Exhibition Road. Originally the gardens were a part of Hyde Park, but when William III and Mary II moved into Kensington Palace in 1689, the gardens were separated from Hyde Park. Originally the gardens were smaller, but were extended to their present size in the first part of the eighteenth century. The Paddington area, including Paddington Station, is just north of it. Paddington Bear fans may want to visit the statue located on Platform 1 of the station; the area around the station is also quite interesting. To the south of the gardens are the Kensington Museums.
#1 Start: Bayswater/Notting Hill Gate to Kensington Palace Gardens
One of the blessings of the location of the BYU Centre is its nearness to one of London’s major palaces—Kensington. As a result, you can begin this walk from the BYU Centre. As you leave, go right to the intersection of Palace Court and Bayswater/Notting Hill Gate. Cross Bayswater and turn right on the other side of the street. Proceed right, along Bayswater/Notting Hill until you come to a gated road on your left, and turn into this road—Kensington Palace Gardens/Palace Green.The gate is there to control the cars that go through this area because embassies from many nations are on this road. You won’t be stopped if you are just walking. This road has been nicknamed “Billionaire Row” or “Embassy Row” for obvious reasons. (Check the embassies you find as you move along this road.) As you proceed along this passageway, you will eventually see Kensington Palace to your left.
#2 Kensington Palace
When you reach the sign near the end of the street pointing to Kensington Palace, turn left and proceed to the gilded gates of the palace.At the major gate to the palace on this side, note the statue of William III—the first monarch to live in this palace.
#3 Sunken Garden and the Orangery
Continue around Kensington Palace with the palace on your left until you come to the visitor’s entrance. This is where you will enter when you visit the palace, so note its location. Keep going until you reach the Sunken Garden and the Orangery, where you may want to look around for a few minutes. There is also a restaurant at the Orangery. Then move out toward the park until you come to the first major pathway—Broad Walk. Turn right and make your way along this path with the park on your left.On Broad Walk you will see a marble statue of Queen Victoria, who was born in Kensington Palace. This statue was sculpted by her daughter. As you move along Broad Walk, you will see the Round Pond to your left, the major center of activity in the park. Here it is not unusual to see model ships racing or kite-flying nearby, as well as dogs taking a plunge into the pond. Rollerblading, engaged in by beginners and near-professionals alike, is constantly on stage here, and sometimes it is fun to sit and watch people from many different nations promenading with their families or to observe a pick-up soccer match.
#4 Broad Walk to Flower Walk
Continue along Broad Walk until you are nearly to the edge of the park. Just before you reach the exit, to your left and through a gate is a lane called the Flower Walk. Turn left and proceed down that for a real treat if you enjoy flowers.In the spring and the summer the flower beds along Flower Walk are absolutely magnificent. This is also where you will see most of the squirrels and pigeons in the park.
#5 The Albert Memorial
Continue on Flower Walk until you reach the Albert Memorial, on your right.If you haven’t had a good look at the Albert Memorial, do so sometime soon. Mark Twain, who had a difficult time understanding British humor, once remarked that this was the best joke he had seen in London. Albert wanted a simple obelisk as a memorial—but then a committee went to work on the monument. (Need we say more?) However, in its own overly ornate way, this is one of the most interesting monuments in the city. It could have been worse. The original design, which proposed a much larger monstrosity to be built near Parliament, was much more gaudy and higher than the buildings of Parliament. Albert was the beloved Prince Consort of Queen Victoria. (The husband of the queen is never the king unless he is the legitimate heir to the throne himself—currently Philip is Elizabeth II’s Prince Consort.) When Albert died, Victoria lost interest in life for many years. You may have seen the movie Mrs. Brown, which is the story of how John Brown, one of their Scottish servants, restored her will to live, and thereby brought her back into society. If you haven’t seen the film, starring Dame Judi Dench and Billy Connolly, you ought to rent and view it. It is exceptionally well done. Since this monument represents the high point of the British Empire, you will see scenes representing the four corners of the earth, indicating the spread of British influence and, in many cases, control. Plan on some careful investigatory work on the monument some time during your stay. Note also the Royal Albert Hall is just across the road (see South Kensington Museums walk).
#6 Albert Memorial to Equestrian Statue
As you face the statue, turn around and make your way straight into the park. In the distance you should spot an equestrian statue with a figure astride a horse. Make your way to that statueAs you do so, to your right you will see the Serpentine Gallery, a small intimate art gallery, where contemporary (and often controversial) exhibits are shown. It is contained within a 1934 tea pavilion and was created in 1970 by the Arts Council of Great Britain.Note as you walk along the path how some of the grass has been closely groomed. The entire gardens were formerly kept in such a manner. Now, as you notice, some of the patches of grass are allowed to grow, thereby creating the sense of a more rustic park.The statue toward which you are walking is called Physical Energy, designed by George Fredric Watts in the last century. Some of Watts’ concerns can be seen in the blue plaques in Postman’s Park near the end of the London Wall walk. Watts was primarily a painter (watch for his work in the galleries), whose artwork I think was best described by C. G. Chesterton in his biography of Watts. Chesterton speaks of Watts’ work being very primordial in nature, as if the object is about ready to come into existence from nothing. I think of Chesterton’s comment when I look at this statue. Note that it is not a statue of a historical or mythological subject. As its title suggests, it is an attempt to portray energy in a non-physical way. It’s very difficult to make a horse and rider look ethereal, but I think that Watts succeeds.Incidentally, if you find Watts’ work interesting, I strongly recommend you go to the Watts Gallery in Compton, Surrey, some day. Take the railway train from Waterloo Station to Guildford and then go by taxi to the Watts Gallery in Compton. (Obviously the taxi ride will be less expensive if three or four of you go together.) The gallery is filled with the marvelous work of this artist who has been called England’s Michelangelo. I think it is one my two favorite galleries in the UK. Compton is also an excellent area for those who are hikers—it is on a par with some of the Lake District for that purpose.
#7 Serpentine Lake
Go at a right angle to the course you have followed to get to Physical Energy (going farther out from Kensington Palace) until you come to a body of water. This is the Serpentine Lake or the Long Water—both titles are used. Make your way left when you get to the sidewalk paralleling the water and proceed along that walkway.This is what is called the Long Water of the Serpentine, the major waterway in the park. The Serpentine has been the scene of many suicides— the most famous of which was that of Percy Shelley’s first wife, Harriet, after she learned of his child by Mary Godwin (later to become Mary Shelley, the author of the novel Frankenstein). One can easily imagine a dark foggy night almost anywhere among these banks, as a desperate, despondent individual walks out into the silent waters—and death. These suicides give a certain irony to the notice on an arched bridge farther back on the lake which notes: “Shallow water, do not jump from bridge”!Just a word of caution (especially if you have on your best shoes): watch where you are stepping in this area, lest you learn the hard way the real meaning of “loose as a goose.” Dog owners are responsible for preventing their dogs from fouling the footpath—but no one walks the birds. A sign was posted near the lake on 14 May 1995 announcing the arrival of six cygnets (young swans). Since the proud parents, “William” and “Mary” (actually Mary had the responsibility) would take her young on daily walks from the Serpentine to the Round Pond, visitors were asked to please give them the right-of-way (or is it “left-of-way” in Britain?), and to keep all dogs tightly on the leash, so that the cygnets would be protected. Can you imagine a similar sign in the USA? However, it is very typical of British concern for their animals.As you proceed along the waterway with the Serpentine on your right, watch for the Peter Pan statue coming up on your left, set back in a miniature park (Sir James Matthew Barrie, who wrote Peter Pan, lived nearby at 100 Bayswater Road). To generate an aura of the supernatural, this monument was set up during a single night—creating the impression that it was the work of fairies. Take time to walk around the statue and to examine it and the base, both of which were designed in 1912 by Sir George Frampton, a famous Victorian sculptor, to reflect Barries’ the Little White Bird (a story about Kensington Gardens). And, speaking of little white birds, I always like to watch the concrete posts set across the Serpentine at this point to prevent the passage of boats, and to follow the competition that often takes place among the gulls for a perch on top of each of them. You can also see a large statue across the waters; this Arch is the work of Henry Moore, created in 1980 by one of Britain’s most renowned twentieth-century sculptors.
#8 Italian Gardens
Follow along the Serpentine until you come, on your right, to the Italian Gardens. You will recognize them by the many fountains.Two of the bodies of water in Kensington Gardens owe their existence to King George II’s wife, Queen Caroline: Round Pond and the Serpentine, including the Italian Gardens, which were created in 1728 from the Westbourne River. Here is the source of the Long Waters or Serpentine Lake (actually the waterway is shaped more like an elongated slug than a serpent). I think you will find the ponds and fountains at the Italian Gardens hard to leave in the summer if you love water. They are really quite eloquent, considering the scale.
#9 Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground
Turn to the left—from the path you have been following–away from the ponds, and follow the path, inside the park, that parallels Bayswater Road. Follow the path until you arrive at the west end of the park near Bayswater Road.The Brits are known for their deep compassion for their pets, much more than Americans. There is a Pet Cemetery in Hyde Park, northeast of the Italian Gardens (behind a fence a few feet west of Victoria Gate), created by the Duke of Cambridge in 1880 upon the death of some of his wife’s favorite pets—dogs, cats, and birds. By 1903 the cemetery was full. There are approximately three hundred small headstones (many with very poignant epitaphs, such as “Prince—asked for so little and gave so much,” “A dear and lovely kitty who will live in my heart forever,” and “Jack, a sportsman and a pal”). It is open to the public only once a year. Incidentally, you will probably note that dog owners (at least the native Londoners) do a fairly good job of cleaning up dog messes after them. Dog owners can be fined for not doing so. One of the most repeated signs in London is “Don’t foul the footpaths.” You may have noticed that there are designated containers along the paths for the disposal of dog dirt—they are those green receptacles, identified by the logo of a little terrier.Take some time to look at the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Playground created at the cost of £1.7 million in 2000 in a pre-existing children’s park to honor the memory of Lady Diana, former wife of Prince Charles, for her love and service to children. It is also commonly known as the Peter Pan Playground because the original park was financed in 1906 by money from Sir James Matthew Barrie, the author of the best seller, Peter Pan. The playground now contains totem poles and tepees, a pirate ship (with a hidden passage between decks), a mermaid’s fountain, a tree house encampment and a “movement and musical” garden, where children can create their own tunes on various instruments. It is all designed to promote creativity on the part of the children. If you want to go into the playground (and you are over 12 years of age), you either have to come early in the morning during the adult-entrance time or find a child to accompany you.Note also the dead tree surrounded by a fence (near the end of the playground farthest from Bayswater, the major road). This is the Elfin Oak, with figures carved by Ivor Innes, a famed illustrator of children’s books, between 1928 and 1930, and refurbished by order of Prince Charles in 1997 after the death of Diana. (If you want the story of Wookie the Witch and the entire entourage carved onto the tree, consult Innes’ children’s book The Elfin Oak of Kensington Gardens.) The oak itself is estimated to be over 800 years old, and was brought to Kensington from Richmond Park in 1928.In the Victorian age, England was one of the few countries to develop a genre of art (painting, sculpture, literature) centering on elves, fairies, gnomes, pixies, etc., much like the Utah artist James Christensen’s work today. Elfin Oak is covered with such creatures. Some of this interest in fairies was stimulated by Shakespearean revivals—especially Midsummer Night’s Dream and the Tempest.Also note the Time Flies memorial clock and fountain nearby, erected in 1909 to by an anonymous donor (who has never yet been definitively identified) "to the memory of a beloved son and one who had a deep love for children." One could speculate whether the latter refers to the creator of the Elfin Oak nearby or to the creator of Peter Pan, or another individual entirely unknown. If you have been taught that Salt Lake City has a monopoly on seagull monuments, look at the weather vane on top. This directional vane is also a good place to establish your sense of direction in the park.
# 10 The End: Return to the BYU Centre
Exit the park by the closest gate. You should recognize that you are now just a short way from Palace Court, across the road and to your left.There used to be a closed-off area to your left against the fence just as you exit the park. As the sign indicates, this area was designated for a dog toilet. Sometimes you may still see owners putting their dogs there for a few minutes to relieve themselves before going into or coming out of the park.
