Letcities, kirks, and everie noble towne Be purified, and decked up and downe.
ALEXANDER HUME (1557-1609).
LONDON is almost completely surrounded by a chain of parks. Luckily, as the town grew, the necessity for fresh air began to be realised, and before it was too late, in the thickly-populated districts north, south, east, and west, any available open space has been converted into a public garden, or into a more ambitious park. Would that this laudable spirit had moved people sooner, and then there might have been a Finsbury Park nearer Finsbury, and the circle of green patches on the map might have been more evenly dotted about some of the intervening parishes. Many of the open spaces are heaths, or commons, or Lammas Lands, which have various rights attached to them, and, in consequence, have been saved from the encroachments which have threatened them from time to time, and have thus been preserved, in spite of the growth of the surrounding districts. Of late years the rights have in many instances been acquired by public bodies, so as to keep for ever these priceless boons. It was not until the middle of last century that the movement in favour of city parks assumed definite form. They were in contemplation before 1840, but none were completed until several years later. Victoria was the first, opened in 1845; Battersea, although begun then, was not ready for planting till 1857; Kennington, Finsbury, and Southward had followed before 1870, and, since then, every few years new open spaces have been added. They have been purchased by public bodies for the most part, but a large share of the honour of acquiring these grounds is due to private munificence and individual enterprise.
