The Royal Parks in photos - August
We look back at August through some of our favourite photos, past and present.
The picturesque Royal Parks were at their best again last month, and there were few better places in London to catch the last of the summer light.
We take a look back on the best of August in photos.
Summer blooms
The Italian Gardens
Around the parks
VJ 80
On Thursday, 14 August, a poignant sunset ceremony was held at the Commonwealth Memorial Gates in The Green Park to mark the eve of the 80th anniversary of VJ Day (Victory over Japan Day). The event honoured the contributions of Commonwealth personnel who fought and paid the ultimate sacrifice during the Far East campaign of the Second World War.
As dusk fell, a light show was projected on the memorial's four stone pillars, providing a powerful backdrop to a moving programme of remembrance, wrath laying and storytelling. The ceremony was rounded off by the lighting of the Commonwealth War Graves Commission's Torch for Peace.
Greenwich Park Rose Garden
It has been a great summer for the newly regenerated Rose Garden in Greenwich Park, with a colourful August display that has been drawing positive feedback from visitors. The two-year project included a new layout and seating areas, a mixed planting scheme that will better adapt to a changing climate, and of course new roses - around 800 were planted by the end of spring 2025, with 17 new cultivars taking the total to over 40 varieties.
An additional 6,000 plants and 7,000 bulbs were added to the garden to provide more varied habitats and food for pollinators as well as making the garden more resilient.
Greenwich Park Revealed
We're thrilled to share that the Greenwich Park Revealed project was announced as a Landscape Institute Award Finalist in the 'Excellence in Heritage & Culture' category. The award celebrates landscape projects that contribute to the improvement of heritage and culture, as well as recognising how the project celebrates the past, functions well for the present, and looks to the future to ensure long-term success.
The multi-year project to protect, revive, reveal, and futureproof the park for the local community and park visitors to discover and enjoy for generations to come was completed in spring 2025.
A look back in time
Children playing in the sand pit in The Regent's Park, August 1908. The Regent’s Park is still a popular place to play, with the park home to several playgrounds including Gloucester Gate Playground which was transformed and reopened in 2020.
Members of the American Olympic team, including Jesse Owens (1913 - 1980) (fourth from right), walking in Kensington Gardens, August 1936. The famous games were held in Germany that year against a backdrop of Nazi propaganda, and Owens would go on to win four gold medals.
The View of the Fair in Hyde Park. By Matthew Dubourg (1786-1838) and John Heaviside Clark (1771–1863). The fair, which took place in August 1814, featured a series of attractions including mock naval battles as part of the Grand Jubilee.
Among other things the occasion celebrated the end of the Napoleonic Wars. Hyde Park remains an important location for events of national significance to this day.
Do you have a photo of one of the Royal Parks that you’d like to include next month? Or an old family snap from decades past? Please get in touch on digitalcomms@royalparks.org.uk, we’d love to hear from you.
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