Park Lane

	A Park Lane Walk Route & what to see
	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]

[walkslist]