Lincoln's Inn Fields Parks can bring back the freedom we had as children to wander in the shade of trees. English parks do this especially well. In cities across the British Isles, parks are large swaths of grass under trees with places to sit. They invite us to leave behind our structured daily lives. They encourage us to take liberty.
One of my favorite English parks is Lincoln's Inn Fields, a 387-year-old square about the size of two football fields smack in the middle of London.
On a recent May afternoon, approximately 200 people sat out on the grass in Lincoln's Inn Fields. Some were sleeping, others picnicked, a few parents watched their children chasing pigeons. Some were tourists. But most of the people resting in the shade of London planetrees were office workers who came here to read a book in the sunshine or take a nap in the shade.
Today, landscape architects and their clients tend to overthink parks, assigning areas for dog play, toddlers, eating, ice-skating, etc., as though parks are entertainment malls.
Lincoln's Inn Fields reminds us that the best park is simply a clearing, offering wanderers a refuge. Because wherever we go, some remnant of childhood is with us.
