Sheep Meadow in Central Park

Sheep Meadow in Central Park, April 12, 2014.

Sunbathers, Picnickers and Frisbee Players at Sheep Meadow

Sheep Meadow is a vast 15-acre green grass meadow in Central Park. It is open from mid-April through mid-October attracting thousands of visitors, mostly sunbathers, frisbee players and picnickers. A perfect place to relax and unwind, the meadow was actually home to a flock of sheep from 1864 until 1934. The sheep and shepherd were housed in a fanciful Victorian building nearby that became the former Tavern on the Green restaurant.

Sunbathers in Sheep Meadow, Central Park

May 2, 2010, Sheep Meadow, Central Park

From centralpark.com

While it has been many years since sheep actually inhabited this verdant lawn on the westside of the park, Robert Moses having exiled the sheep to Prospect Park in 1934, it still remains a pastoral setting that invites sunbathing and the enjoyment of a good book.

Original entries to the design competition for Central Park were required to include a parade ground and Olmsted and Vaux reluctantly included one in the first Greensward Plan. Soon after winning, however, they managed to convince the commissioners that a quiet park landscape was perhaps not the best place for military displays. To re-enforce the quiet nature of the “Green” as it was then called a flock of sheep was added in 1864. A Sheepfold was built across the drive in 1870 and twice a day a shepherd would hold up carriage traffic, and later automobiles, as he drove the animals to and from the meadow. After the sheep had been banished to Brooklyn the Sheepfold was converted into what is now the world famous restaurant Tavern on the Green.

Like the Great Lawn and the North Meadow the Sheep Meadow is now meticulously cared for by the parks department and rigid rules enforced to ensure that it doesn’t suffer the decline caused by overuse. On a crowded weekend afternoon as many as 30,000 visitors may arrive to enjoy the tree ringed expanse and it is only by careful management that meadow can be preserved.

A GLORIOUS MORNING IN CENTRAL PARK

Walking along the path north of Central Park's SHEEP MEADOW (Lilac Walk) last Sunday morning, I saw these beautiful crawling vines of morning glory with purple and pink flowers. Known scientifically as Ipomoea purpurea, the purple morning glory is native to Mexico and Central America. The plant entwines itself around structures with its viny stems, like the fence of the Sheep Meadow, growing to a height of 2-3 m tall. The leaves are heart-shaped. The flowers are trumpet-shaped, predominantly blue to purple, pink or white, about 3-6 cm diameter. What makes these flowers special is that they typically last for a single morning and die in the afternoon. New flowers bloom each day. The flowers usually start to fade a couple of hours before the petals curl up.

LAST DAYS OF WINTER

Today is a milder day although some snow still remains on the ground. Above are two photos that I took at CENTRAL PARK, one near the Sheep Meadow, and the other at the Wollman skating rink. The Wollman Open Skating Competition takes place tomorrow, March 11th, so there will be no public skating.

CENTRAL PARK'S SHEEP MEADOW

This image was made yesterday at Central Park’s SHEEP MEADOW. In the summer, the Sheep Meadow is a 15-acre lush, green lawn which is a haven for sunbathers, picnickers and kite flyers. It is a wonderful place to relax and admire one of Manhattan’s greatest skyline views. From 1864 until 1934, a flock of pedigree Southdown (and later Dorset) sheep inhabited the meadow. In the 1960s and 1970s, the Sheep Meadow was a popular venue for large-scale concerts and televised events such as the first landing on the moon in 1969.