Regent's University London Garden *

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

Having been a Crown Estate since 1539, the area of Regent's Park was largely farmland by the end of the C18th. Schemes to develop the area as a public park (first named Marylebone Park) were considered from c.1809, and from 1812 until c.1830 John Nash's plan of 1811 (with modifications) was implemented, the public area being opened in 1835 as The Regent's Park (q.v.). The site of Regent's Park is roughly circular, bounded by Prince Albert Road from west to north-north-east, Albany Street to east, Park Square and Park Crescent (q.v.) to 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 Road, which extends all the way round the main area of 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 south, and by Chester Road to east. The Broad Walk runs north-south across the east side of the park, linked with Albert Road, the Outer Circle and Chester Road.

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 the 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. In 1835 the Royal Botanic Society acquired c.7½ hectares for its buildings and gardens within the Inner Circle and in 1932 this site was taken over for garden development, laid out as Queen Mary's Gardens, with a noted rose garden, and an open air theatre in the north-west. In 1827 the Royal Zoological Society acquired a site in the northern quarter of the park, eventually 14½ha, for the zoological gardens. Decimus Burton designed various buildings, 1826-47. There was continuous development of the surrounding area into the later C20th such as the Central London Mosque, built 1974-82 on the western boundary.

When University College London was founded in 1828 it provided higher education for the first time but only for men. In 1849 a Ladies College was founded by Mrs Elisabeth Reid and opened in Bedford Square (q.v.). In 1908, following a legacy, Bedford College took a lease from the Crown on South Villa in the Inner Circle in Regent's Park and a number of academic buildings were built, including the present Tate Library and laboratories for science, which was an essential part of the College's first programmes, together with the arts and humanities, and teacher training. The north-west wing of Bedford College designed by Basil Champney was built in 1910-13. An Astronomical Observatory was opened by the Astronomer Royal and remains at the college. Although South Villa was demolished its former lodge, built in c.1827 and attributed to Decimus Burton remains at the entrance to the college. Student accommodation was provided in Reid Hall, and sport was popular activity among students, particularly given the nearby park. In 1965 male undergraduates were admitted. In 1984 the Crown lease was taken by Rockford College, Illinois, which opened Regent's College in 1985 primarily to provide a 'study abroad' programme, with courses with a clear British focus, and since then other institutions have also moved onto the campus, Regent's College becoming a multi-disciplinary campus community of 7 world-renowned schools. In 2012 Regent's College gained its own taught-degree awarding powers and the following year the institution was awarded university status, becoming Regent's University London in June 2013.