Hyde Park (formerly Third Swamp Reserve) is an inner-city park in

Perth Perth is the capital and largest city of the Australian state of Western Australia. It is the fourth most populous city in Australia and Oceania, with a population of 2.1 million (80% of the state) living in Greater Perth in 2020. Perth is ...

, the state capital of

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to t ...

. It is located in the north-east corner of the suburb of Perth north of the central business districtsurrounded by

Vincent Vincent ( la, Vincentius) is a male given name derived from the Roman name Vincentius, which is derived from the Latin word (''to conquer''). People with the given name Artists *Vincent Apap (1909–2003), Maltese sculptor *Vincent van Gogh ...

William William is a male given name of Germanic origin.Hanks, Hardcastle and Hodges, ''Oxford Dictionary of First Names'', Oxford University Press, 2nd edition, , p. 276. It became very popular in the English language after the Norman conquest of Engl ...

, Glendower and Throssell Streets. Facilities include: public toilets, playground equipment, barbecues, drinking fountains, pavilion, stage area, fitness equipment and a sealed walking path of around in length ringing the lake. Electricity is available, which is used, for example, to power temporary fairground rides.

Locality

Hyde Park is in the City of Vincent. It has a lake feature in the middle which is separated into two basins. The park is popular with people walking around, weddings, picnics and barbeques. The park has 17 zones that are available to hire for events.

Hyde Park Fair

The Hyde Park Fair is held annually in the park, and is one of Perth's longest running free community events. The event was originally known as the Hyde Park Festival, and was first held in 1968. The Festival ended in 1985, but was resurrected in 1988 as the Hyde Park Fair, run by the

Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...

of North Perth. HydeParkPerth05 gobeirne

History

Prior to European settlement, the area was known to the local

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the South West, Western Australia, south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton, Western Au ...

people as ''Boodjamooling''. The area was originally approximately midway along a series of

wetlands A wetland is a distinct ecosystem that is flooded or saturated by water, either permanently (for years or decades) or seasonally (for weeks or months). Flooding results in oxygen-free (anoxic) processes prevailing, especially in the soils. The p ...

that stretched from Claisebrook Cove through to

Herdsman Lake Herdsman Lake ( nys, Njookenbooro), also known as Herdsmans Lake, is a freshwater lake located on the Swan Coastal Plain, north-west of Perth, Western Australia, in the suburb of Herdsman. The main shared use path around the lake is approxima ...

and included Lake Monger. The lakes and the area in which they resided were collectively known as the Great Lakes District. Today, only a small proportion of those wetlands remain. After the establishment of the

Swan River Colony The Swan River Colony, also known as the Swan River Settlement, or just Swan River, was a British colony established in 1829 on the Swan River, in Western Australia. This initial settlement place on the Swan River was soon named Perth, and it ...

in 1829, the European settlers gave it the name ''Third Swamp''. In 1897, of Third Swamp was gazetted as a public park by Lyall Hall and two years later renamed Hyde Park.

Hyde Park Lakes Restoration Project

During the late 1980s, a significant level of public concern began to develop on various fronts relating mainly to the environmental health of the lakes, along with the reduction in aesthetics and negative effects to the local flora and fauna. The lakes act as a stormwater compensation basin and have been naturally recharged via groundwater seepage and stormwater run-off. The lakes were adversely affected by a changing weather pattern, hotter summers and low rainfall turning them into a sludgy swamp during the summer. This in conjunction with the pressure on scarce and finite water resources meant that a long-term viable engineered solution was required to maintain a water body year round. After thorough investigation, a master plan was developed and the Hyde Park Lakes Restoration Project was completed in June 2012. The works help ensure the lakes provide a pristine environment year round with the addition of endemic plant species thereby providing a better habitat for the wildlife. The existing lake wall was repaired and retained and a new lower lake wall was constructed to reduce the lakes' overall surface area by approximately 15%, designed to reduce recharge volumes and allow for better management. Vegetated "beach" areas were constructed (one at the causeway corner of each lake) and planted with native vegetation to assist in removing nutrients from the lake water and to address the once stagnant areas of the lakes where rubbish accumulated.

Flora and fauna

Sloping grass areas run down to two central groundwater lakes. Shade is provided by mature introduced trees: *

Plane Trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

- around the lakes * Moreton Bay Figs - lawn area * Port Jackson Fig - lawn area *

Pines A pine is any conifer tree or shrub in the genus ''Pinus'' () of the family Pinaceae. ''Pinus'' is the sole genus in the subfamily Pinoideae. The World Flora Online created by the Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew and Missouri Botanical Garde ...

- around the boundary * Jacarandas - south-east corner * Unusual tree species:

swamp cypress Swamp cypress is a common name for more than one species of plants in the family Cupressaceae (cypresses): * Species of the genus '' Taxodium'' ** ''Taxodium distichum'', native to the Southeastern and Gulf Coastal Plains of the United States * '' G ...

, red cedar,

bunya pine ''Araucaria bidwillii'', commonly known as the bunya pine and sometimes referred to as the false monkey puzzle tree, is a large evergreen coniferous tree in the plant family Araucariaceae. It is found naturally in south-east Queensland Aust ...

* Remnant indigenous tree species: ''

Eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

'' and ''

Melaleuca ''Melaleuca'' () is a genus of nearly 300 species of plants in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, commonly known as paperbarks, honey-myrtles or tea-trees (although the last name is also applied to species of ''Leptospermum''). They range in size f ...

'' There are about 300 southwestern snake-necked turtles living in the park. Several iconic plantings have occurred in Hyde Park over the years, including the avenue of

plane trees ''Platanus'' is a genus consisting of a small number of tree species native to the Northern Hemisphere. They are the sole living members of the family Platanaceae. All mature members of ''Platanus'' are tall, reaching in height. All except f ...

surrounding the lakes that were planted between 1897 and 1899, and the grove of jacarandas in the south east corner of the park in 1921.Plaque with history information on Hyde Park. (n.d). Hyde Park, Perth, Western Australia More recent times have seen the establishment of two native garden beds on the northern side of the park around a stand of original

jarrah ''Eucalyptus marginata'', commonly known as jarrah, djarraly in Noongar language and historically as Swan River mahogany, is a plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae and is endemic to the south-west of Western Australia. It is a tree with r ...

trees. HydeParkPerth03 gobeirne.jpg,

Moreton Bay fig ''Ficus macrophylla'', commonly known as the Moreton Bay fig or Australian banyan, is a large evergreen banyan tree of the family Moraceae native to eastern Australia, from the Wide Bay–Burnett region in the north to the Illawarra in New S ...

s HydeParkPerth02 gobeirne.jpg, Jacarandas AustralianWhiteIbis2 gobeirne.jpg,

Australian white ibis The Australian white ibis (''Threskiornis molucca'') is a wading bird of the ibis family, Threskiornithidae. It is widespread across much of Australia. It has a predominantly white plumage with a bare, black head, long downcurved bill and blac ...

HydeParkPerth04 gobeirne.jpg, Ducks on the lawn area

References

External links

{{Perth landmarks Parks in Perth, Western Australia State Register of Heritage Places in the City of Vincent Vincent Street, North Perth William Street, Perth