Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
residence when he began his political career. When Jane knew this area it was simply the
first of a terrace of smart town dwellings that were demolished when the house was rede-
veloped in its present form.
Apsley House is well worth visiting. The beautifully preserved interior contains Welling-
ton's collection of art works, the lavish gifts presented to him by grateful rulers, and even a
nude statue of Napoleon.
Standing outside, look diagonally across to the Lanesborough Hotel. Until 1825 Hyde
Park turnpike gates stood just about where Grosvenor Place meets Knightsbridge.
Jane's letter home on 25 April 1811 blames an incident at the gates for giving her sister-
in-law Eliza a chest cold. 'The Horses actually gibbed on this side of Hyde Park Gate - a
load of fresh gravel made it a formidable Hill to them, & they refused the collar; I believe
there was a sore shoulder to irritate. Eliza was frightened, & we got out & were detained in
the Eveng air several minutes.'
Tattersall's auction ring was situated just behind the site of the Lanesborough between
1766 and 1865. It became a sort of club where noblemen, gentlemen, grooms and jockeys
could be found mingling and conversing, united by their love of sport.
Go through the gate into Hyde Park, which formed the western edge of London during
the early nineteenth century. On your left is the sandy track of Rotten Row: take the right-
hand footpath alongside it.
During the Season, Society paraded here every afternoon. It was considered essential to
see and to be seen in your most fashionable clothes, riding your finest horse or driving the
most expensive carriage you could afford.
If Jane wished to view Society on display, this was the place to be, as
The Picture of
London
advises:
We recommend [the stranger] to pause at some spot…from which his eye can command the entire pic-
ture of carriages, horsemen, and foot passengers, in the park, all eager to push forward in various direc-
tions, and the more composed picture of the company sauntering in the gardens.
The Queen's Temple in Kensington Palace Gardens was built as a sum-
merhouse for Queen Caroline in
c.
1734. Some of the graffiti inside
dates to 1821 when the whole of the Gardens was thrown open to the
public on a daily basis.
