i2o LONDON PARKS & GARDENS 
last century that the movement in favour of city parks 
assumed definite form. They were in contemplation 
before 1840, but none were completed until several years 
later. Victoria was the first, opened in 1845 ; Battersea, 
although begun then, was not ready for planting till 
1857 ; Kennington, Finsbury, and Southwark had fol¬ 
lowed before 1870, and, since then, every few years new 
open spaces have been added. They have been purchased 
by public bodies for the most part, but a large share of 
the honour of acquiring these grounds is due to private 
munificence and individual enterprise. 
Irrespective of the commons which link them together, 
the principal parks are the following. Beginning on the 
extreme north there is Golder’s Hill, then to the east of 
Hampstead lies Waterlow, the next going eastwards is 
Finsbury, then Clissold and Springfield, and down 
towards the east Victoria. In South London, between 
Woolwich and Greenwich, lies Maryon Park; then, west 
of Greenwich, Deptford and Southwark; then a densely 
built-over district before Kennington, Vauxhall, and 
Battersea are reached; while away to the south lie 
Camberwell, Ruskin, Brockwell, and Dulwich; right 
away into the country, on the south-east, Avery Hill and 
Eltham; and back again west, across the river again, in 
Hammersmith, is Ravenscourt. These parks of varying 
sizes, and smaller recreation grounds between, make up 
the actual parks, although some of the commons, with 
playgrounds, artificial water, and band-stands, can hardly 
be distinguished from the true park. 
The oldest of the parks now under the London County 
Council—Battersea, Kennington, and Victoria—were for 
many years under the Office of Works, and on the same 
footing as the Royal Parks. Government, and no muni- 
