Speakers’ Corner

Kensington & Hyde Park


Frequented by Karl Marx, Vladimir Lenin, George Orwell and William Morris, Speakers' Corner in the northeastern corner of Hyde Park is traditionally the spot for oratorical acrobatics and soapbox ranting. If you have something to get off your chest, do so on Sunday, although you’ll mainly have fringe dwellers, religious fanatics and hecklers for company.

It’s the only place in Britain where demonstrators can assemble without police permission, a concession granted in 1872 after serious riots 17 years before when 150,000 people gathered to demonstrate against the Sunday Trading Bill before Parliament, only to be unexpectedly ambushed by police concealed within Marble Arch. Some historians also link Speakers' Corner with the nearby Tyburn gallows, where condemned criminals might speak to the crowd before being hanged.


Lonely Planet's must-see attractions

Nearby Kensington & Hyde Park attractions

1. Marble Arch

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Designed by John Nash in 1828, this huge white arch was moved here next to Speaker's Corner from its original spot in front of Buckingham Palace in 1851…

2. Tyburn Tree Memorial Plaque

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A plaque on the traffic island at Marble Arch indicates the spot where the infamous Tyburn Tree, a three-legged gallows, once stood. An estimated 50,000…

3. Tyburn Convent

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A convent was established here in 1903, near the site of the Tyburn Tree gallows, and a closed order of Benedictine sisters still forms a community here…

4. Hyde Park

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One of London’s best parks, Hyde Park spreads itself over 142 hectares of neat gardens, wild expanses of overgrown grass and glorious trees. As well as…

5. Wallace Collection

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Arguably London’s finest smaller gallery, the Wallace Collection is an enthralling glimpse into 18th-century aristocratic life. The sumptuously restored…

6. Holocaust Memorial Garden

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7. Handel & Hendrix in London

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George Frederick Handel lived in this 18th-century Mayfair building for 36 years until his death in 1759. This is where he composed some of his finest…

8. Serpentine Lake

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Hyde Park is separated from Kensington Gardens by the gently curving Serpentine lake, created when the River Westbourne was dammed in the 1730s. At…