A HISTORY OF MIDDLESEX 



j.ii\l or the Deer Paddock. The last known occasion of royal sport in the 

 park occurred on 9 September, 1768, as recorded in The Public Advertiser 

 of 1 2 September : 



Same day, their Serene Highnesses the two Princes of Saxe Gotha, and many 

 other Foreigners of Distinction, together with a great number of our own Nobility 

 and Gentry, attended the Diversion of Deer Shooting in Hyde Park, which continued 

 all the Evening until Dark, when one was at last killed, after being shot at ten 

 Times. What rendered it so difficult to kill him was the Hardship of getting him 

 from among the Deer ; and no other was allowed to be shot but this one : Several 

 wagers were won and lost upon this Occasion. 



There is one great feature of Hyde Park which ought not to be 

 passed over in silence, for it has added so materially to its beauties and to 

 the enjoyment of its frequenters for nearly two centuries ; we allude to 

 the great piece of water known as the Serpentine. Queen Caroline, in 

 1730, conceived the idea of improving the appearance of both Hyde 

 Park and Kensington Gardens, by draining the various pools and by 

 increasing the volume of the little stream of Westbourne which came 

 down from Hampstead and flowed sluggishly through the park to the 

 Thames, and widening it into a lake of some forty acres. This lake was 

 named the Serpentine, or the Serpentine River ; its outline has been con- 

 siderably straightened from time to time since its first formation. The 

 operations then conducted were officially termed the 'laying the Six 

 Ponds in Hyde Park into one.' Mr. Rutton's recent diligence 88 has 

 brought to light full details as to cost and nature of this undertaking. A 

 highly interesting feature was the care taken in the transplanting of 

 trees, as shown by the following items : 



For grubbing up in several places and drawing up upon the hill out of the way 

 of the water line 105 large Oaks, Elms, and Willows at ^d. each, 21. 



For grubbing up several small Oaks in the Grove, 3 IOJ. 



For 900 Cube yards of Earth dug and carted to the south side of the Ponds to 

 fill up a line for the planting of 2O large Elms at <)d. per yard, ^33 i$s. 



For the charge of taking up the said 2O Elms, with large balls, and carrying 

 them from the several parts to the place of planting, in doing of which and setting 

 each was used generally 1 8 horses and 60 men making up large stools to place them 

 in, and making up the pans several times after they were broke down by the carts 

 and horses, at 2 los. per tree, 50. 



For Watering Cart to water the trees at 5*. a day, and for a Labourer attending 

 the same at 2od. a day for 152 days between the beginning of April and the 20th day 

 of November, 1731, 50 13*. 4^. 



For charges about the 20 large Elms new planted, viz., to Joseph Banister for a 

 new sledge for drawing the trees, and repairing it, ^3 4*. ; William Watkins for smiths 

 work in mending and repairing the Chains, 281. ; Henry Skene, carpenter, for Oak 

 Boxes for the trees and Deals and in taking 'em up, 35 3*. Sd. And to Mark Coll- 

 berd for Ropes, Wax, Pitch, Tallow, Oakham, Straw, &c., used about the Trees, 

 and for Hayseed to sow the Slopes, 8 19;. "]d. In all as by Bills and Receipts, 

 48 15*. 3</. 



The total expenditure incurred in making the Serpentine amounted to 



Five years later it was found necessary to strengthen the dam at 

 Knightsbridge, and to improve the outlet of the water, the total cost of 



* Rutton, 'The Making of the Serpentine,' He/at Countiti Mag. (1903), v, 81-91, 183-95. 



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