"Did you know that Hyde Park shouldn't exist as a large park, because it was once sold for development into housing plots? Had that been carried out, the Serpentine wouldn't exist, Kensington Palace would be surrounded by houses, and the Winter Wonderland would have its funfair somewhere else. To explain, it helps to know how Hyde Park (originally Hide Park) came to be. Hyde Park owes its origins to the Dissolution of the Monasteries, when King Henry VIII seized open land on the outskirts of London owned by Westminster Abbey. He enclosed it as a deer park, and it wasn't until King James I that suitable ordinary folk were allowed inside for a walk around."
"The irony is that it was the King's execution that led to the park being sold to property developers in the first place. After the regicide of King Charles I, the newly created English Council of State started rebuilding the war-torn country, and needed money to do so. And fortunately for them, while the government was broke, the City of London's merchants and traders were not (and been on Parliament's side in the civil wars), and they were keen to snap up a few bargains while they could."
Hyde Park began when King Henry VIII seized land owned by Westminster Abbey during the Dissolution of the Monasteries and enclosed it as a deer park. King James I allowed ordinary people to walk there, and King Charles I fully opened the park in 1637. After Charles I's execution, the Council of State sold Crown lands to raise funds, and Hyde Park was declared for sale on 1 December 1652. The park was divided into five parcels and sold to buyers including Richard Wilcox, John Tracy, and Anthony Deane, with Deane later selling and leasing parts due to heavy borrowing. Had full residential development followed, major park features and palace surroundings would have been lost or altered.
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