Hyde Park is a huge park spread over 16 hectares on the eastern side of Sydney's central business district. Surrounding the park are the Supreme Court of New South Wales, St James's Church, Hyde Park Barracks, Sydney Hospital, Virgin Mary Cathedral, Australian Museum, Downing Centre, and other public buildings.
The park is named after its famous London namesake, Hyde Park. When viewed from above, it appears literally dotted with drain covers, most of which lead to Busby Borough, Sydney's first water supply system, constructed between 1827 and 1837 with the help of convict labour.
From the earliest days of the colony, the open space to the south-east of the settlement was a favourite place for the townspeople to relax and for various sporting events. In 1810 Governor Lachlan McWire separated this ground from the "Domain" park lying to the north, and called it Hyde Park. "Domain" he retained for his own personal use.
Since then, Hyde Park has been the site of many sporting events - cricket, rugby, ring toss and field hockey competitions, as well as horse racing. Army units also trained here, and ordinary people walked dogs and even grazed cattle. It was only in 1856 that Hyde Park was turned into a public park, and sporting activity in it almost disappeared. Football and cricket clubs were forced to find other grounds for training and games.
Today, Hyde Park has several gardens and 580 trees - figs, palms and other species. The park is famous for its delightful avenues of fig trees. The jewel of the park is the Archibald Fountain, designed by architect François Sicard and presented to Australia in 1932 by journalist Jules Archibald for its services in the First World War. In the northern part of Hyde Park is the Nagoya Garden, which features huge chess pieces. At the southern end is the Australian and New Zealand Army Corps War Memorial (ANZAC). At the south-eastern entrance to the park is a monument to the 104mm gun from the German cruiser Emden. At the western entrance to the park stands a 38-metre high Egyptian-style obelisk, built in 1857, which is actually... a sewer pipe!
