A Park Lane Walk
Route & what to see
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london-footprints.co.uk |
A linear walk from Marble Arch through Hyde Park and along Park Lane to Hyde Park Corner continuing to Victoria Station. It features a number of statues, memorials and pieces of public art. You may find binoculars useful.
Exit Marble Arch Station onto the island
Marble Arch was designed by John Nash in 1827 to
be the state entrance of Buckingham Palace, from where it was
moved in 1851. It was relocated following the widening of Park
Lane in the early 1960s is now sited on a large traffic island.
Historically, only members of the Royal family and the
King’s Troop, Royal Horse Artillery are permitted to pass
through the arch in ceremonial processions.
Walk to the large horse's head
Still Water was unveiled on 14 September 2010.
The largest freestanding bronze sculpture in London at 33ft high
by Nic Fiddian-Green. It replaces a previous version temporarily
installed on this site, commissioned by Sir Anthony Bamford and
his wife. This is now on their estate in Daylesford,
Gloucestershire.
Cross to the neighbouring island
The 16ft statue of Genghis Khan by Dashi Namdakov
shows the legendary leader wearing Mongolian armour and mounted
on his steed. The artist, who had an interest in the nomadic
tribes of Mongolia, wanted to honour the warrior on the 850th
anniversary of his birth.
Beyond the fountains cross into Hyde Park
(Cumberland Gate) and take the path to the right
The Freeman Family Drinking Fountain by David
Harber was unveiled on 23 September 2009. A stainless
steel sphere decorated with petals of oxidised bronze. Donated to
the park by Michael Freeman, a property developer and trustee of
the Royal Parks Foundation, and his wife.
Return, go past Speakers Corner then follow
the park path parallel with Park Lane. Exit at Upper Brook Street
Gate and cross to the island.
The Animals in War Memorial by David Backhouse was
unveiled 24 November 2004 by Princess Anne. Two heavily laden
mules are shown trudging towards an opening between two Portland
stone screens; beyond lies a grass mound with a horse and dog.
Return to the park and continue along the path
bearing left to the fountain.
The Four Winds Fountain by Thomas Bayliss
Huxley-Jones was unveiled 25 June 1963. The site was formerly
occupied by Munro’s Boy and Dolphin. Originally
titled Joy of Life, this was the last commission of the
Constance Fund. The fountain basins were redesigned and the
work’s name changed in 2000–1.
Continue to the steel columns
The Memorial to victims of the 7 July 2005 London
bombings by Carmody Groarke Architects & others was
unveiled 7 July 2009 by the Prince of Wales and Duchess of
Cornwall on the fourth anniversary. The 52 victims are
commemorated by stainless steel stelae.
Continue and exit at the Curzon Gate. Go left
along Park Lane and cross to the island.
Harmony by Lorenzo Quinn was unveiled
in December 2014. A unique interpretation on the traditional
symbol of the Yin and Yang, this 3m high sculpture is cast in
polished aluminium and stainless steel. This has replaced Spirit
of Life by Helene Blumenfeld (2007).
Cross to the east side of Park Lane and
continue southwards.
On the island (no access) is Dunamis. In October 2013
this piece was sited on Achilles Way, where it will stay
until sold. The bronze sculpture of a male figure holding an
elephant by its trunk, measuring some 9m and taking over a
year to make, symbolizes human struggle to achieve excellence and
'pushing boundaries to make the impossible possible.' Bushra
Fakhoury started sculpting at the age of 7 at a convent where she
was taught to use marzipan to create flowers and animals. She
commenced her studies at the American University of Beirut
and has lived in London for 40 years, having undertaken her
PhD at the University of London. Also George Gordon
Byron, 6th Baron Byron by Richard Claude Belt which was
unveiled 24 May 1880. Inspired by a line from Childe Harold's
Pilgrimage (1812–18): "To sit on rocks and muse
o’er flood and fell". Byron is depicted with his
Newfoundland dog, Bo’sun. The marble pedestal, supplied by
the Greek government, was added in 1882.
Use the subway to reach the Wellington Arch
island.
The Machine Gun Corps Memorial (David)
by Francis Derwent Wood was unveiled on 10 May 1925 by the Duke
of Connaught and resited at its current location in 1962. The
second bronze model for the figure stood in Chelsea Embankment
Gardens from 1963 until it was stolen in the 1970s; it has been
replaced by a replica. Arthur
Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington by Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm
& Howard Ince was unveiled on 21 December 1888. The pedestal
is flanked by four soldiers representing the four nations of the
United Kingdom. The Royal Artillery Memorial by Charles
Sargeant Jagger & Lionel Pearson was unveiled 18 October 1925
by the Duke of Connaught. The regiment demanded a
"realistic" memorial which is crowned with a howitzer
rendered in stone. The figure of a dead soldier shrouded in a
greatcoat was still, however, found to be unsettling. The
Australian War Memorial by Janet Laurence & Tonkin
Zulaikha Greer Architects (2003) is a curving granite wall
inscribed with the names of 24,000 Australian towns and villages
and of battles in both World Wars. Water runs down parts of the
wall and slabs up against it bear the country’s coat of arms
and military badges. The Peace Quadriga by Adrian Jones
was unveiled 2 April 1912. Decimus Burton originally intended a
quadriga to surmount his 1828 arch, but in 1845 an equestrian
statue of Wellington by Wyatt was installed in its place. This
was removed to Aldershot when the arch’s orientation was
changed in 1883. Lord Michelham, whose son modelled for the boy,
commissioned the present group in memory of his friend, Edward
VII. The New Zealand War Memorial by Paul Dibble
& John Hardwick-Smith was unveiled on 11 November 2006 by the
Queen. Consists of 16 bronze X beams (or "standards"),
six of which are arranged in the shape of the Southern Cross
constellation.
Cross to Green Park
The memorial to Bomber Command by Liam O'Connor
was unveiled 28 June 2012 by the Queen. The Portland Stone
memorial is classical in style, but its roof is lined with
aluminium from a Halifax plane. Behind, a stainless steel lattice
is inspired by the fuselage construction of Wellington bombers.
Sculptures of the seven aircrew are by Philip Jackson. The
Commonwealth Memorial also by Liam O'Connor was unveiled 6
November 2002 by the Queen. Four stone pillars supporting lamps
and, nearby, a chhatri Inscribed ‘In Memory of the 5 million
volunteers from the Indian sub-continent, Africa & the
Caribbean who fought with Britain in the two World Wars’.
Follow the line of the palace wall into and
along Grosevenor Place.
Angels Treading Down Devils by Maurice Lambert
are on the former AEI building by Wimperis, Simpson & Fyffe
1956-8.
Cross to Upper Grosvenor Gardens
The Rifle Brigade Memorial by John
Tweed was unveiled on 25 July 1925. The rifleman in contemporary
uniform in the centre is flanked by an officer (on the left) and
a private in early 19th-century uniform. Lioness and Lesser Kudu was commissioned
from Jonathan Kenworthy by his Grace the Duke of Westminster to
mark the opening of the gardens to the public in June 2000.
Another cast already stood in the grounds of Eaton Hall, the
Duke’s estate in Cheshire.
Walk through and cross to Lower Grosvenor
Gardens
Alien by David Breuer-Weil (2012) is a
landmark of contemporary British sculpture. Alien presents the
viewer with a visitor from a different world suddenly crash
landed in the heart of London. As the son of a refugee the artist
also explores issues of belonging in an emotive and tragi-comic
manner with this monolithic work. The equestrian statue of Marshall
Ferdinand Foch by Georges Malissard and F Lebret was
unveiled on 5 June 1930 and is a replica of the statue in Cassel,
France. The site was chosen so that it would be seen by French
visitors arriving at Victoria Station.
Cross to Victoria Station
Resources
Public Art in Westminster Wikipedia page
Photobox Album [view images]
london-footprints 2015