page_title: Bois de la Cambre
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Bois de la Cambre / History
caption_attribution_description: English: In the middle of the Bois de la Cambre,the isle of the Chalet Robinson( postcard 1904)
context_page_description: The Bois de la Cambre or Ter Kamerenbos is an urban public park on the edge of the Sonian Forest in Brussels, Belgium. The park lies in the south of the Brussels-Capital Region, in the municipality of the City of Brussels. It covers an area of 1.23 square kilometres. It is linked to the rest of the municipality by Avenue Louise/Louizalaan, which was built in 1861, at the same time the park was laid out.
  The park comprises a small lake with an island in the centre, called Robinson's Island.
  Its water is polluted with cyanobacteria and signs are posted at regular intervals, warning of a risk of botulism.
context_section_description: The park was laid out in 1861 by Édouard Keilig, a German architect. The place quickly became a popular recreational area for the people of Brussels, comparable to the Bois de Boulogne in Paris. In addition to its many promenades, it hosted a dairy, a velodrome, a theatre, an artificial boating lake, as well as a racecourse. Queen Marie-Henriette, wife of King Leopold II, often went riding in the park. The horsemans' battle bronze group at the entrance is the work of Belgian sculptor Jacques de Lalaing.
  On 17 June 1815, on the eve of the Battle of Waterloo, English soldiers played a cricket match on a ground located in the area currently covered by the park. Ever since, this area has been called la Pelouse des Anglais ("The Englishmen's Lawn"), although few are aware of the name. In 1965, the then British Ambassador in Belgium planted an oak tree and unveiled a bronze plaque to commemorate the 150th anniversary of this sporting and historical event.
  The main road around the lake has been closed to traffic on Saturdays and Sundays since the 1990s.
caption: View of the Bois de la Cambre, c. 1904
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