Regent’s Park: Glossy stucco houses surround glorious formal gardens and sports facilities

Gloucester Gate (Image: Archant)

Local authority

To the north, Regent’s Park is in the London Borough of Camden and has an NW1 postcode, while the south side is in the City of Westminster. It is in the Westminster North parliamentary constituency. Council tax in Camden is £906.25 for Band A properties, rising to £2,718.76 for Band H properties. Tax for ‘average’ Band D homes is £1,359.38 for 2016/17. In the City of Westminster Band A properties pay £445.87, average Band D properties pay £668.81 and Band H properties would get a bill for £1,337.62.

Property

The average price of a two-bedroom flat in Regent’s Park is £979,276 while a terraced house costs an average of £2,701,722.

Gloucester Gate (Image: Archant)

The area’s iconic housing stock is made up of the large Regency cream stucco crescents and terraces designed by John Nash in the early 19th century. The area also has a share of 20th century local authority stock as well as new builds of varying quality.

Education

Netley Primary school is a small state primary with a connected nursery division. The nursery class has 29 places and offers two additional enhanced provision places for children with autism. The International Community School nursery and primary divisions are also based in the area, offering a syllabus geared towards the International Baccalaureate. Fee-paying Francis Holland School offers girls’ secondary education the area and performs consistently well in exams.

Regent's Park (Image: Archant)

Transport

Regent’s Park is situated in zone 1 on the London Underground and is served by the Bakerloo line. Other nearby Underground stations include Baker Street on the Hammersmith & City, Metropolitan, Circle, Jubilee and Bakerloo lines and Camden Town on the Northern line. The area is served by multiple bus routes travelling further into central London as well as several mainline rail connections from Marylebone and Euston stations.

Landmarks and history

Regent's Park Mosque (Image: Archant)

The land comprising Regent’s Park and adjoining Primrose Hill was once used as hunting ground by Henry VIII and was later mortgaged by Charles 1 to buy gunpowder during the Civil War. The trees were cut down by Oliver Cromwell in the mid-17th century so that he could lease the land to raise income. The Park as we know it today was commissioned by the Prince Regent (later King George IV) in 1811 as part of architect John Nash’s masterplan for the area.

While Nash’s vision was never fully realised, nowadays the park boasts a wide variety of institutions and attractions. Queen Mary’s Gardens features over 12,000 roses of 400 varieties and the Allotment Garden, which is open to the public.

Many specialist schools and institutions are based around the Park, including the Royal Academy of Music, the Royal College of Physicians and the Zoological Society of London. The London Central Mosque’s gold dome hovers above the west of the Park and has an Islamic Cultural Centre next door.

Sherlock Holmes Museum (Image: Archant)

Shopping and culture

Even long time residents of the area are bound to discover unknown facts and hidden gems on one of Marylebone Walks’ taster walks of Regent’s Park. One highlight is St John’s Lodge (designed by Decimus Burton and Nash) which housed St Dunstans Home for Blind Servicemen during WW2 – talking books were invented in one of the buildings on the site.

The area hosts some of London’s most touristy attractions, including Madame Tussaud’s, the London Planetarium and the Sherlock Holmes Museum, but a quirkier attraction is the window of Transport for London’s Lost Property Office at Baker Street station, which displays an esoteric selection of lost and found items dating back through the 20th century.

Lost Property Office, Baker Street (Image: Archant)

York and Albany (Image: Archant)

St Katherine’s Danish Church is mostly geared towards ex-pats but Danophiles will find plenty to delight, including a shop selling national groceries, language classes and film screenings.

Eating and drinking

The Park itself has six cafes, offering a variety of coffees, snacks and full meals. Nearby, the Queen’s Head and Artichoke is a gastropub serving tapas and European main dishes and a decent wine selection. The York and Albany is part of Gordon Ramsay’s stable of restaurants and serves modern British food in its bar and dining room.

Feng Shang Princess (Image: Archant)

For an elegant afternoon tea, head to the Palm Court at the Landmark Hotel, a turn-of-the-century railway hotel with a pretty glass-roofed central atrium, while fun, if slightly gimmicky, Chinese dining is available at the Feng Shang Princess, a chinese restaurant in a double decker barge floating on the Regent’s Canal.

Boating lake (Image: Archant)

Sports and leisure

The area within the Park boasts a stunning array of amenities ranging from the sporting to the scientific and cultural. Locals can play tennis at the Tennis Centre on either a drop-in or membership basis. Rugby, softball, football, cricket and lacrosse pitches are also available to rent from The Hub sports facility. There are also free, informal play areas available in this area of the park.

Rose garden (Image: Archant)

More sedentary pursuits are on hand on the boating lake, where visitors can hire row boats and pedalos for a peaceful trip out on the water.

Mind-broadening options are on offer from the Open Air Theatre, which holds performances and events from May to September.

Good for kids

London Zoo is the biggest draw for children in the area who can enjoy a glimpse of the giraffes peering above the walls without even entering the zoo. It’s worth paying in however, for a chance to get up close to the tigers, otters, pygmy hippos and to experience the joy of penguins’ feeding time.