WeRead Powered by ReaderPub
London parks and gardens cover

London parks and gardens

Chapter 2: PREFACE
By Mrs. Evelyn Cecil
Open in WeRead

Explore more books like this:

Environmental IssuesHistory - BritishNature/Gardening/Animals

About This Book

This survey traces the history, management, and horticultural character of major open spaces inside the County of London, grouping Royal Parks, municipal parks, commons, squares, burial grounds, Inns of Court gardens, and private grounds. It combines historical sketches with practical notes on layout, planting, and notable features, and includes lists of trees and shrubs and numerous illustrations. Chapters treat individual sites in sequence and offer observations on their administration, public use, and opportunities for improvement, aiming to show how varied green spaces contribute to urban health, recreation, and civic amenity.

PREFACE

In spite of the abundance of books on London, not one exists which tells the story of the Parks and Gardens as a whole. Some of the Royal Parks have been dealt with, and most of the Municipal Parks, but in separate works. When Squares are touched on, in guide-books, or in volumes to themselves, the Gardens are for the most part left alone, and gossip of the inhabitants forms the centre of the narrative. This is the case also with public buildings and private houses which have gardens attached to them. To give a sketch of the history of the more important Parks and Gardens, and to point out any features of horticultural interest, is the object of the following pages. London is such a wide word, and means such a different area at various periods, that it has been necessary to make some hard and fast rule to define the scope of this work. I have, therefore, decided to keep strictly to the limits of the County of London within the official boundaries of the London County Council at the present time.

I would express my thanks to the authorities of the Parks, both Royal and Municipal, for their courtesy in affording me information, and to many friends who have facilitated my search in historical and private gardens. I am also extremely grateful to my friend, Miss Margaret MacArthur, who has assisted me in the tedious task of correcting proofs. The lists of trees and shrubs, and of plants in the beds in Hyde Park, were kindly drawn up for me by the Park Superintendent, the late Mr. Jordan, with the consent of H.M. Office of Works.

ALICIA M. CECIL.

10 Eaton Place,
August 1907.