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 
