52 LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 



water, grand specimens of oak, ash, lime, elm, sweet 

 and horse-chestnuts are met with. The avenue of 

 horse-chestnuts is just as flourishing as those of planes 

 or elms. In fact the whole Park shows how well trees 

 will succeed if sufficient care is taken of them. One 

 feature of the Park in old days was the Walnut Avenue, 

 which grew nearly on the lines of the present trees 

 between Grosvenor Gate and the Achilles Statue. They 

 were decayed and were cut down in 1811, and the best 

 of the wood was used for gunstocks for the army. It 

 is a pity no walnut avenue was planted instead, as by 

 now it would have been a fine shady walk. The old 

 elms, which are of such great beauty in Hyde Park, 

 have, alas ! often to be sacrificed for the safety of pas- 

 sers-by, so that the recent severe lopping was necessary. 

 Their great branches are the first to fall in a gale. 

 Yet when one has to be removed there is an outcry, 

 though people tamely submit to a whole row of trees 

 being ruined by tram lines along the Embankment, so 

 inconsistent is public opinion. It is almost incredible 

 what narrow escapes from destruction even the beauty 

 of Hyde Park has had. In 1884 a Metropolitan and 

 Parks Railway Bill was before Parliament, which actually 

 proposed to cross the Park by tunnels and cuttings which 

 would have completely disfigured "The Dell" and other 

 parts of the Park. In this utilitarian age nothing is 

 sacred. 



The Dell had not been ten years in its present form 

 when the proposal was made. The site of the Dell was 

 a receiving lake, about 200 yards by 70, which had been 

 made in 1734. This was done away with in 1844, ^^^ 

 the overflow of the Serpentine allowed to pass over 

 the artificial rocks which still remain. It was enveloped 



