Victoria Park, located on London’s East End, has a rich culturalhistory. Planned out by the architect Sir James Pennethorne afteryears of gravel extraction, the park was first opened to the publicin 1845, after Queen Elizabeth was handed a petition containing30,000 signatures. Victoria Park was the first public park to beopened in London.Sir James Pennethorne hoped to create a sort of version of thepopular Regent’s Park, which had been designed by his teacher, JohnNash. But unlike Regent’s Park, which was commissioned by KingGeorge IV (then known as Prince Regent), Victoria Park was createdwith the working class public in mind. It quickly became a havenfor the children of working class families, who never before hadaccess to large gardens and lawns, as their royal counterparts did.Victoria