Bushy Park is like a patchwork quilt of English history

Bushy Park is like a patchwork quilt of English history. It has remains of medieval farmland, a Tudor deer park, 17th century water gardens and wartime camps.  

 

Bushy became a royal park in 1529 when Cardinal Wolsey gave it to King Henry Vlll as part of a gift that also included Hampton Court.

 

 Bushy became a royal park in 1529 when Cardinal Wolsey gave it to King Henry Vlll as part of a gift that also included Hampton Court. Until then, the park had been agricultural land.

 In the Middle Ages, the park reared rabbits for food in artificial warrens.

 

 When the land was given to King Henry Vlll, he immediately created a deer chase. He built a brick wall around the park - and a section of this remains along the north side of Hampton Court Road.

 Deer continued to be hunted at Bushy throughout the 17 th century - but the character of the park changed. In 1610, King Charles I created the Longford River . This was an ornamental canal, 19km (12 miles) long, which brought water from the River Colne in Hertfordshire to water features in the park. 

[ https://www.royalparks.org.uk/parks/bushy-park/about-bushy-park/landscape-history]

The Upper Lodge Water Gardens

Built by the 1st Earl of Halifax as a private recreational garden in 1710, the Water Gardens went on to play a unique role in twentieth-century events. They were used as a hospital for Canadian troops in the First World War, then as swimming pools as part of an open air school for East End Boys with respiratory diseases.

During the Second World War, the site was used as US barracks. It was then taken over by the Ministry of Defence, and played a significant role in the development of Cold War defence technology