The Green Park covers 40 acres and is an important link between St James's Park and Hyde Park in forming a chain of open spaces that contribute so much to life in the capital.
The park was first recorded in 1554 when Sir Thomas Wyatt led a rebellion in protest against the marriage of Mary I to Philip II of Spain. The area was meadowland used for hunting and the occasional duel.
The Green Park is now devoid of buildings and has virtually no artefacts, but it was not always so. The park once contained lodges, a library, an ice house and two vast 'temples' called the Temple of Peace and the Temple of Concord. During festivities in the park the two temples were destroyed. In 1749 the Temple of Peace, erected to mark the end of the War of Austrian Succession, exploded during a firework display and in 1814 the Temple of Concord, erected to mark 100 years of the Hanoverian Dynasty, was also destroyed in a similar way during the Prince Regent's gala.
The park was enclosed by Charles II in 1668, stocked with deer and provided with a ranger's house. It was known as Upper St James's Park but by 1746 it was called The Green Park. Various improvements at the beginning of the 18th century made it more of a pleasure garden. The Tyburn Pool was built, and in the 1720s a reservoir was made to supply water to St James's Palace and Buckingham House. This reservoir was called the Queen's Basin, and with the adjacent Queen's Walk, planted in 1730, soon became a fashionable venue. The park was opened to the general public in 1826. Unfortunately, The Ranger's Lodge, the Queen's Library, the Queen's Basin and the Tyburn Pool had all been demolished by 1855.
