Green Park lies between Hyde Park and St James's Park, in the City of Westminster. Much of the present landscaping is the result of remodelling by John Nash in the 1820s, and the park had been cleared of its buildings, dating to the time of Queen Caroline, by 1855.[1] Governments have traditionally been reluctant to situate memorials in the Royal Parks, and there were none in Green Park until the installation of the Canada Memorial in 1994.[2] Since then two further war memorials have been added, with the second (dedicated to the memory of RAF Bomber Command) drawing criticism for "the un-greening of this section of Green Park".[3]
Map of public art in Green Park
Image
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Wrought-iron gates with piers in the Palladian style, originally from a house at Turnham Green belonging to Lord Heathfield. When this was demolished in 1837 they were bought for Chiswick House, but in 1897 they were removed to Devonshire House, which was owned by the same family. This in turn was demolished in 1921, after which the gates were moved to their present site.[4] Restored in 2000.[5]
Unveiled 30 June 1954 on the site of an earlier fountain by Sydney Smirke. The new work was a gift of the Constance Fund, a trust fund set up in accordance with the wishes of the artist Sigismund Goetze to commission sculpture for London's parks.[6] The fountain was moved to its current, more prominent position in 2011, when some gilding was added.[7]
Fraser's tiling scheme in bright red and green replaced (on the Victoria line platforms)[8] an abstract design of 1969 by Hans Unger, representing a bird's-eye view of trees in Green Park.[9]
Unveiled 3 June 1994 by Elizabeth II.[10] A pyramid of Canadian granite bisected by a passageway, forming the shape of an arrow pointing from Halifax, Nova Scotia, whence Canadian soldiers sailed for London in order to fight in both world wars. The inscriptions are in English and French.[11]
Four stone pillars supporting lamps and, nearby, a chhatri
—
Unveiled 6 November 2002 by Elizabeth II. Inscribed IN MEMORY OF/ THE FIVE MILLION/ VOLUNTEERS FROM/ THE INDIAN/ SUB-CONTINENT/ AFRICA AND/ THE CARIBBEAN/ WHO FOUGHT WITH/ BRITAIN IN THE TWO/ WORLD WARS[12]
The Portland stone cladding of the service buildings is set in bands to suggest strata in a quarry, with enlarged outlines of fossils incised into the stone at eye level, and spiral forms are incised into the granite pavement.[13]
One of two winners of an international competition to design "a new, top-quality, low-cost, model drinking fountain",[14] the other being the Trumpet fountain installed in Kensington Gardens.[15]
^"A memorial too far". The Burlington Magazine. 153 (1304). November 2011. Retrieved 29 March 2013.
^Historic England. "Devonshire House Gates to Green Park and Gatepiers (Opposite to Number 90 Piccadilly) (1226498)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 15 February 2014.
^Connolly, Jocelyne. "The Canadian War Memorial Part 3: Public interaction". Art and Architecture. Courtauld Institute of Art. Retrieved 11 April 2014.
^John Maine: Sea Strata. Art in Public. Retrieved 20 June 2022.
^About the Competition. The Royal Parks Foundation. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^Watering Holes Drinking Fountain. The Royal Parks Foundation. Retrieved 17 September 2014.
^Rayner, Gordon (28 June 2012). "RAF Bomber Command Memorial: After 67 years, the sacrifice of 55,000 airmen is honoured". The Telegraph. Archived from the original on 28 June 2012. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
Bibliographyedit
Bradley, Simon; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2003). London 6: Westminster. The Buildings of England. London and New Haven: Yale University Press. ISBN 978-0-300-09595-1.
Ovenden, Mark (2013). London Underground by Design. London: Penguin. ISBN 978-1846144172.
Ward-Jackson, Philip (2011). Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1. Public Sculpture of Britain. Vol. 14. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 978-1-84631-691-3.