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Location: City of London, London, England
Kensington Gardens:
The Italian Gardens is a 150-year-old ornamental water garden located on the north side of Kensington Gardens near Lancaster Gate. It is believed to have been created as a gift from Prince Albert to his beloved Queen Victoria.
History of Kensington Gardens:
The formal layout of the Italian Gardens can be traced to Osborne House on The Isle of Wight. Prince Albert was a keen gardener and took charge of the gardens at Osborne House, where the royal family spent its holidays. One of the big changes Albert made was the introduction of an Italian Garden with large raised terraces, fountains, urns and new geometric flower beds.
In 1860 another Italian Garden was built, this time in Kensington Gardens and with a design by James Pennethorne that included many of the features of the Osborne garden.
At the north of the gardens is the Pump House where you can see Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s initials on one of the walls. The building once contained a steam engine that would operate the fountains and the pillar on the roof is a cleverly disguised chimney. A stoker would be employed all Saturday night to keep the engine running and pump water into the Round Pond, so on Sundays there was enough head of water to run the fountains without the engine working...... http://www.royalparks.org.uk
