Place Name
Named after the nearby park, the whole area was once a part of the vast Ebury estate. A hide – or in Old English hid – was an Anglo-Saxon term meaning a land-holding that was considered sufficient to support a family. This was equivalent to 60 to 120 old acres (approximately 30 modern acres), usually the amount of land that could be tilled with one plough in a year. The area was recorded as Hida in 1204 becoming La Hyde in 1257. The Royal Park called Hide Park was established by King Henry VIII as a hunting ground in 1536 when he acquired it from from the monks of Westminster Abbey. Various monarchs have been credited with opening it to the public in the 17thCentury, namely James I and Charles II. But the park’s own websites says it was Charles I who changed the nature of the park completely.
