One of the most striking features of Hyde Park to-day is the long sheet of water known as the “Serpentine,” but this was a comparatively late addition to the attractions of the Park. From earliest times there was water. The deer came down to drink at pools supplied by fresh springs. The stream of the West Bourne flowed across the Park from north to south, leaving it near the present Albert Gate. Near there it was spanned by a bridge, from which the hamlet of Knightsbridge derived its name. The water in the Park was used to supply the West End of London as houses began to be built further from the City, and Chelsea was also supplied from it. The Dean and Chapter of Westminster had a right to the use of the water from the springs in the Park, and the history of their privilege is recorded on a stone which stands above “the Dell” on the north-east of the bridge across the end of the Serpentine. The inscription states that a supply of water by a conduit was granted to the Abbey of Westminster by Edward the Confessor, and the further history of the lands, which passed into Henry VIII.’s hands at a time when all church property was in peril of seizure, is neatly glossed over as the “manor was resumed by the Crown in 1536.” The use of the springs, however, was retained by the Abbey, and confirmed to them by a charter of Elizabeth in 1560. Later on the privilege was withdrawn, and in 1663 the Chelsea Waterworks were granted the use of all the streams and springs of Hyde Park. They made in 1725 a reservoir on the east side of the Park, opposite Mount Street. The sunk garden, with the Dolphin Fountain, the statue in Carrara marble, and the basin of Sicilian marble, by A. Munro, was made in 1861 on the site of this reservoir, which was abandoned two years earlier. It has been stated that this sunk garden was a remnant of the forts of Cromwell’s time, one small one having been near here, but the history of the Chelsea Waterworks reservoir must have been unknown to those who believed the tradition. It contained a million and a half gallons of water, and was protected by a wall and railings, as suicides were once said to have been frequent. When the Serpentine was made by Queen Caroline, considerable compensation had to be paid to the Waterworks Company. [Illustration: DOLPHIN FOUNTAIN, HYDE PARK]