Rotten Row is a broad track running 1,384 metres (4,541 ft)[1] along the south side of Hyde Park in London. It leads from Hyde Park Corner to Serpentine Road. During the 18th and 19th centuries, Rotten Row was a fashionable place for upper-class Londoners to be seen horse riding.[2] Today it is maintained as a place to ride horses in the centre of London, but it is little used as such.
History
Rotten Row was established by
St. James's Palace. He created the broad avenue through Hyde Park, lit with 300 oil lamps in 1690—the first artificially lit highway in Britain. The lighting was a precaution against highwaymen, who lurked in Hyde Park at the time.[3] The track was called Route du Roi, French for King's Road, which was eventually corrupted into "Rotten Row".[4]
In the 18th century, Rotten Row became a popular meeting place for upper-class Londoners. Particularly on weekend evenings and at midday, people dressed in their finest clothes to ride along the row and be seen.[2] The adjacent South Carriage Drive was used by society people in carriages for the same purpose.[2] In 1876, it was reconstructed as a horse-ride, with a brick base covered by sand.[1]
The sand-covered avenue of Rotten Row is maintained as a bridleway and forms part of Hyde Park's South Ride. It is convenient for the Household Cavalry, stabled nearby at Hyde Park Barracks in Knightsbridge, to exercise their horses. Members of the public may also ride, although few people have stables close enough to make use of it. Commercial stables nearby, the Hyde Park Stables and 'Ross Nye Stables, offer horse hire and riding lessons to the public.
A Royal plaque commemorating 300 years of Rotten Row was erected in 1990.
"ROTTEN ROW - The King's Old Road, Completed 1690
This ride originally formed part of King William III's carriage drive from Whitehall to Kensington Palace. Its construction was supervised by the Surveyor of their Majesties' Roads, Captain Michael Studholme and it was the first lamp-lit road in the Kingdom. Designated as a public bridleway in the 1730s, Rotten Row is one of the most famous urban riding grounds in the world."