Holland Park
Holland Park is the name given to an urban park in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea (RBKC) and a residential area of west London in its vicinity. The RBKC is an inner London borough (local administrative area) just to the west of the centre. It is the second smallest and the most densely populated in the UK, with an estimated population of 158,000 and a population density of 13,000 per km sq. According to the 2011 census, 71 per cent of the residents are white, of which 39 per cent are white British. A further 10 per cent are Asian, 5 per cent of multiple ethnic groups, 4 per cent black African and 3 per cent black Caribbean. The RBKC is the richest borough in the UK.
The RBKC currently spends £3 million annually on parks and green spaces, of which £1.2 million, or 40 per cent of the entire budget, is on Holland Park. All other parks in the borough that are staffed employ a maximum of two gardeners/park keepers compared with up to 18 in Holland Park.
The park itself is a small remnant of a grand country estate dating back to 1606 bought by Sir Walter Cope, who built a mansion house here, known as Cope’s Castle, later as Kensington House and then Holland House. A royal courtier, Cope was one of the richest men in England. The original estate, comprising the four manors of Kensington, was huge, stretching almost as far south as the River Thames (Miller 2012). The Jacobean mansion and its surroundings were remodelled on a number of occasions. The mansion was fire-bombed during World War 2 and only the east wing (now forming part of a youth hostel) and the first storey of the southern facade (forming a backdrop for a temporary summer opera pavilion) and terrace now survive, together with outbuildings comprising a stable block (occupied by a park office and the Parks Police), the Orangery (used for weddings and a whole series of other events such as talks and Christmas carols), the Ice House (used for a summer art exhibition), the ballroom (now a restaurant) and associated walled formal garden areas.
The house and what is now the park was the private residence and pleasure grounds of a succession of aristocratic families. The owners effectively prevented the entire area being built over. The area was sold to London County Council in 1952 for use as a public park, and after the abolishment of the latter passed into the management of RBKC in 1986.
The park itself covers 22.5 hectares and is roughly rectangular in shape. It is topographically varied, with the land gently rising from the south to the north, with the highest point being in the far north-east corner and dipping markedly to the west. Holland Park is by far the largest park/green space in RBKC, but small and relatively less well known when compared with the much larger royal parks of central London (Kensington Gardens, Hyde Park and Regent’s Park). It takes about 10 minutes to walk from north to south through the entire park, and 5 minutes from west to east.
The park consists of three distinct areas (see fig. 9.2). In the almost flat southern end of the park there is a large sports field with four tennis courts, exercise machines, and cricket and golf nets in the south-west corner. An area centred around the remains of Holland House contains formal gardens bounded by walls and clipped hedges, toilets, the park nursery with staff offices, a car park, toddlers’ playground, two more tennis courts, a park cafe with indoor and outdoor seating, a giant chess set, and other facilities mentioned above. The northern half of the park is dominated by woodland enclosures, with two formal gardens at its northern end (the D Garden and Sun Trap area). A new ecology centre (an RBKC educational facility) is located on the western side, together with an adjacent children’s adventure playground and preschool. Apart from woodland, there are some open lawned areas nearest to the house and above the Sun Trap in the far north.
The wooded areas are criss-crossed by two long walks from west to east across the park (Chestnut Walk and Lime Tree Walk). There are a large number of smaller paths that, to a visitor unfamiliar to the park, can appear to be bewilderingly complex; some are straight and formal, others meandering – remnants of both formal and informal woodland estate designs that changed over time.
Today, from the pond containing the statue of the third Lord Holland, five paths forming a rough star shape radiate out in different directions, part of an original ‘wilderness’ historic landscaping feature originally featuring eight allées and affording formal vistas through the trees to countryside beyond (Miller 2012:8). In the northern part of the woodland today, there is a wildlife enclosure and a wildlife pond (see fig. 9.2).
Besides these features, there are a large number of contemporary modern sculptures found in the area around the house and in the D Garden and Sun Trap area, some by well-known and respected artists. Even from this minimalist description it can be appreciated that this is a very diverse and complex park indeed. A massive amount has been packed into a small space. One can be constantly surprised and delighted during a walk through the park by the sheer diversity of what is to be found and encountered here. The RBKC justly regard it as the jewel in their crown.
