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Tube: Marble Arch, Hyde Park Corner or Lancaster Gate. Seized from the Church by Henry VIII to satisfy his desire for yet more hunting grounds, Hyde Park ( www.royalparks.co.uk) was first opened to the public by James I, and soon became a fashionable gathering place for the beau monde, who rode round the circular drive known as the Ring, pausing to gossip and admire each other's equipage. Hangings, muggings and duels, the Great Exhibition of 1851 and numerous public events have all taken place in Hyde Park - and it's still a popular gathering point or destination for political demonstrations. For most of the time, however, the park is simply a leisure ground - a wonderful open space which allows you to lose all sight of the city beyond a few persistent tower blocks. Located at the treeless northeastern corner of the park, Marble Arch was originally erected in 1828 as a triumphal entry to Buckingham Palace, but is now stranded on a ferociously busy traffic island at the west end of Oxford Street. This is the most historically charged spot in Hyde Park, as it marks the site of Tyburn gallows , the city's main public execution spot until 1783. It's also the location of Speakers' Corner , once an entertaining and peculiarly English Sunday tradition, featuring an assembly of characterful speakers and hecklers - now, sadly, a forum for soap-box religious extremists. A better place to enter the park is at Hyde Park Corner , the southeast corner, where the Wellington Arch stands in the midst of another of London's busiest traffic interchanges. Erected in 1828 to commemorate Wellington's victories in the Napoleonic Wars, the arch originally served as the northern gate into Buckingham Palace grounds. Close by stands Apsley House (Tues-Sun 11am-5pm; GBP4.50; www.vam.ac.uk), Wellington's London residence and now a museum to the "Iron Duke". Unless you're a keen fan of the Duke (or the architect, Benjamin Wyatt), the highlight of the museum is the art collection , much of which used to belong to the King of Spain. Among the best pieces, displayed in the Waterloo Gallery on the first floor, are works by de Hooch, van Dyck, Velazquez, Goya, Rubens and Murillo. The famous, more than twice life-size nude statue of Napoleon by Antonio Canova stands at the foot of the main staircase. Hyde Park is divided in two by the Serpentine Lake , which has a popular Lido (June-Sept daily 10am-6pm; GBP2.50) on its south bank. By far the prettiest section of the lake, though, is the upper section known as the Long Water , which narrows until it reaches a group of four fountains, laid out symmetrically in front of an Italianate summerhouse designed by Wren.
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