Regent's Park (Camden) *

Site on The National Heritage List for England, Parks & Gardens, for Register Entry see https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list

Although the majority of Regent's Park is in Westminster, a small part is in LB Camden, being the strip to the east of The Broad Walk. The park dates from the early C19th and was designed by John Nash as a residential estate for the wealthy, set in a private parkland. It was developed for the Crown Estate, which had owned the land since 1539. Although some areas remain in separate use and ownership, the majority of the park is now open to the public. The land had been seized by Henry VIII as an extension to his hunting chase around St James's Park and was then called Marylebone Park. During the Civil War the park was taken by Cromwell, but returned to the Crown at the Restoration, following which it was let to tenants and by the end of the C18th largely used as farmland. Schemes to develop the area were being considered from c.1809, and from 1812 until c.1830 John Nash's plan of 1811 (with modifications) was implemented. Part of the park was first opened to the public in 1835 as The Regent's Park, named after the Prince Regent. Regent's Park is roughly circular, bounded by Prince Albert Road from west to north-north-east, Albany Street to the east, Park Square and Park Crescent (q.v.) to the south-east, various terraces to south, and by Park Road to south-west. Within this approximate boundary, the Grand Union Canal, laid out 1812-20, runs for 1.75km inside Prince Albert Road, enclosing Outer Circle, which extends all the way round the main area of the park. In the north east is Gloucester Gate Bridge, which was formerly over the Cumberland Basin arm of Regent's Canal, filled in 1942/3. The bridge has a dedication stone on the north-west end dated 11 August 1877 and was designed by William Booth Scott, Engineer for the Vestry of St Pancras. At the north-east end is an inset bronze bas relief plaque showing the martyrdom of St Pancras by C E Fucigna, which was presented by William Thornton. Gloucester Gate Lodge, just outside the park boundary, originally flanked the entrance screen that formed the East Gate to the park. Lesser, inner roads include the Inner Circle, in the south centre of the park, linked to the Outer Circle by York Bridge Road to the south, and by Chester Road to the east.

The Broad Walk runs north-south across the east side of the park, linked with Albert Road, the Outer Circle and Chester Road, and at a prominent position along it is the Parsee Drinking Fountain. Also named the Readymoney Fountain, it was erected in 1869 as the gift of Sir Cowasgee Gehangir Readymoney in gratitude for the protection given to the Parsees under the British Protectorate.

Nash's original plan envisaged the extensive combination of terraced houses and detached villas within a spacious landscaped park. While details of his plan were much modified, the overall conception was, and remains his own. The main landscape feature is the curving lake, with islands, in the south-west quarter of the park.

Round the Inner Circle, to east of the lake, several private villas were built, with their own gardens, including The Holme (or Holme House) and St John's Lodge (q.v.). Subsequent development has been varied.

The Broadwalk Gardens with formal Italian Gardens and informal English Garden to the east were redesigned by William Andrews Nesfield in 1861-64, with his son Markham preparing the first bedding schemes; the original designs were obliterated over time but restoration of the original layout began in 1993. In 1838 the Royal Botanic Society had leased c.7.5 hectares for its buildings and demonstration gardens within the Inner Circle. In 1932 this site reverted to the Ministry of Works and was redesigned as ornamental gardens, largely by the Parks Superintendent Duncan Campbell, with a noted rose garden, a tea room on the site of the former Royal Botanic Society buildings, and an open air theatre to north. The gardens were re-opened as Queen Mary's Gardens in 1935, in celebration of King George V and Queen Mary's Jubilee. In 1827 the Royal Zoological Society acquired a site in the northern quarter of the park, eventually 14.5ha, for the zoological gardens.

Continuous development around the park has taken place into the later C20th with the Central London Mosque built in 1974-82 on its western boundary. Considerable loss or damage to trees resulted from the storms in October 1987. The park has been the venue for numerous outdoor events, including Annika Eriksson's The Smallest Cinema in the World - For the Wealthy and the Good, shown as part of Portavilian in summer 2008.

The Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England was established in 1984 and was commonly called English Heritage. In April 2015 it split into 2 separate entities, Historic England (HE), which continues to champion and protect the historic environment, and the English Heritage Trust, whose role is to look after the 400+ historic sites and monuments owned by the state. HE manages the National Heritage List for England (NHLE) that includes over 400,000 items ranging from prehistoric monuments to office blocks, battlefields and parks, which benefit from legal protection.