The most natural division, when dealing with these open spaces, is the river, and it is a division which strikes a fairly even balance. Including Royal Parks, which contain some 1266 acres, the northern side can claim the larger area, as, irrespective of squares and churchyards and gardens, there are about 3141 acres of green. The south side has only Greenwich Park of 185 acres of Royal Park, and, exclusive of that, there are quite 2169 acres, as against 1875 of the municipal areas on the northern side, when the Crown land is deducted. Besides these, there are 226 acres maintained by the Borough Councils; so in round numbers London has about 5721 acres of open space. These figures are only rough estimates, and do not include all the smaller recreation grounds or gardens of less than an acre.
These parks scattered around London are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands annually, and yet, to a comparative handful of people who live near Hyde Park, they are as much unexplored country as the regions of Timbuctoo. The bicycling craze of ten years ago suddenly brought Battersea Park into fashion; but the miles of crowded streets, with their rushing trams and top-heavy omnibuses, put a considerable bar between the "West End" and those more distant favoured spots. There is much variety in these parks, both north and south, and the chief difference lies in their origin. When a suburban manor-house, standing in its own grounds, with well-timbered park and a garden of some design, has been acquired, a much finer effect is produced than when fields or market-gardens have been bought up and made into a park.
These parks scattered around London are enjoyed by hundreds of thousands annually, and yet, to a comparative handful of people who live near Hyde Park, they are as much unexplored country as the regions of Timbuctoo. The bicycling craze of ten years ago suddenly brought Battersea Park into fashion; but the miles of crowded streets, with their rushing trams and top-heavy omnibuses, put a considerable bar between the "West End" and those more distant favoured spots. There is much variety in these parks, both north and south, and the chief difference lies in their origin. When a suburban manor-house, standing in its own grounds, with well-timbered park and a garden of some design, has been acquired, a much finer effect is produced than when fields or market-gardens have been bought up and made into a park.
Finsbury Park, for instance, was merely fields, while Waterlow has always been part of a private demesne. It is the same on the south of the river. Brockwell is an old park and garden. Battersea was entirely made. Each park has features which give it an individual character, while there is and must be a certain repetition in describing every one separately.
