The Royal Parks have a long and interesting past. For almost 700 years these spaces have been enjoyed, first by monarchs and their courts, and more recently by everyone. There are echoes of the past in all the Parks. On your next visit, try and imagine how the Parks used to look, with no cars or cycles, just the distant thunder of a hunting party chasing their quarry on wild eyed horses.

Originally known as the Manor of Sheen, Richmond Park is probably the oldest of the Royal Parks - and the one that has changed the least. It is first linked with royalty through King Edward, who died in 1307.

Greenwich Park was enclosed by Henry VI in 1433; however deer were only introduced in 1515. James I commissioned significant remodelling of the Park and its buildings, including commissioning Inigo Jones in 1616 to rebuild the old Tudor palace. The result, The Queen's House, can still be seen today.

Bushy Park as we see it now was brought together when Henry VIII obtained Hampton Court Palace in 1529. King James made further alterations, including the annexing of a further 168 acres on the Hampton side. A wall was also erected all round the park.

1532: Henry VIII acquires St James's Park to further indulge his love of hunting and builds the Palace of St James's. The Park today is surrounded by 3 palaces - Westminster, St James's and Buckingham. There has been a Westminster Palace for almost a thousand years; however much of the current building - more frequently called the Houses of Parliament dates from 1834 - when fire swept through the earlier medieval buildings.

1665: As friends, relatives and neighbours succumb to the Black Death, desperate Londoners camp in Hyde Park to try and escape the Plague.

The Green Park was originally a swampy burial ground for lepers; but by 1668, Charles II had enclosed it and stocked it with deer, again to indulge the regal passion for hunting.

Originally part of Hyde Park, Kensington Gardens were shaped by Queen Caroline, wife of George II. In 1728, the gardens began to resemble their present form with the creation of the Serpentine and the Long Water.

Marylebone Park, or The Regent's Park as we know it today, again started life as part of the Monarch's hunting grounds. In 1811, the Prince Regent asked 3 architects to submit plans for redeveloping the area. Nash's plan was bold and grandiose, and caught the imagination of the Prince. For the next two decades, Nash would work to realise the scheme.