28 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



this period must have been when Fairfax and the Parlia- 

 mentary army marched through Hyde Park in 1647, and 

 were met by the solemn procession of the Mayor and 

 Sheriffs of the City of London, 



Dismal days for the Parks followed. Although the 

 Parks had been declared the property of the Common- 

 wealth, it was from no wish to use them for sport or 

 recreation. During the latter years of Charles the First's 

 reign Hyde Park had become somewhat of a fashionable 

 resort. People came to enjoy the air and meet their 

 friends, and it was less exclusively reserved for hunting. 

 Races took place, both foot and horse ; crowds collected 

 to witness them, and ladies, with their attendant cavaliers, 

 drove there in coaches, and refreshed themselves at 

 the "Cake House" with syllabubs. This latter was 

 the favourite drink, made of milk or cream whipped up 

 with sugar and wine or cider. But the Puritan spirit, 

 which was rapidly asserting itself, soon interfered with 

 such harmless amusements. In 1645 the Parks were 

 ordered to be shut on the Lord's Day, also on fast and 

 thanksgiving days. In 1649 the Parks, together with 

 Windsor, Hampton Court, Greenwich, and Richmond, 

 were declared to be the property of the Commonwealth, 

 and thrown open to the public. But this did not lead to 

 greater public enjoyment of Hyde Park. Far from it, 

 for only three years later it was put up to auction in 

 three lots. The first lot was the part bounded on one 

 side by the present Bayswater Road, and is described 

 as well wooded ; the second, the Kensington side, was 

 chiefly pasture ; the third, another well-wooded division, 

 included the lodge and banqueting-house and the Ring 

 where the races took place. This part was valued at 

 more than double the two others, and was purchased by 



