Hyde Park
the statues, fountains and one mosaic that mark what happened on this ground
Hyde Park has been a deer chase, a place of execution, a parade ground, a protest ground and an exhibition site, and the objects standing in it record all of that unevenly. A colossal nude paid for by the women of Britain, a mosaic marking a tree that was burned down, and a memorial to a cavalry that had stopped existing by the time it was unveiled.
A park that keeps its arguments
Two of the objects here were controversial enough to become news. The Achilles was attacked for its nudity and given a fig leaf, which was removed and replaced more than once. The Reformers Tree marks the site of an elm burned during the Reform League demonstrations of 1866, after which the government conceded the right to assemble in the park.
That right is why Speakers' Corner exists, and it was not granted willingly. The mosaic is the only monument in London to a successful riot.
The entries
Achilles
Hyde Park, Park Lane corner W1 Nearest station: Hyde Park Corner
The Wellington Monument: a colossal bronze nude of 1822 by Sir Richard Westmacott, cast from cannon captured at Salamanca, Vitoria, Toulouse and Waterloo, and paid for by public subscription from the women of Britain. The nudity caused a long public argument and a fig leaf that has come and gone.
Little Nell
Hyde Park W2 Nearest station: Hyde Park Corner
A figure by William Robert Colton, known as Little Nell after the character in Dickens's The Old Curiosity Shop. Colton was a Royal Academician who taught sculpture and is now much less known than his contemporaries; this is the work of his that people in London are most likely to have walked past.
The Cavalry Memorial
Hyde Park, near the bandstand W2 Nearest station: Hyde Park Corner
St George on foot standing over a dragon, with his horse behind him, by Adrian Jones, who also made the Quadriga on the arch across the road. Jones had served as an army veterinary officer for over twenty years, which is why his horses are better than most.
The Reformers Tree
Hyde Park, near Speakers' Corner W2 Nearest station: Marble Arch
A circular mosaic in the ground marking the site of an elm burned down during the Reform League demonstrations of 1866. The stump became a noticeboard and a meeting point, and the right to assemble in the park was conceded soon afterwards. A replacement tree was planted in 1977 and the mosaic laid in 2000.
The Joy of Life
Hyde Park, Park Lane side W1 Nearest station: Hyde Park Corner
T. B. Huxley-Jones's 1963 bronze group at the Park Lane edge, paid for by the Constance Fund, with four figures in the water and two children above them. One of a small group of mid-century fountains in the royal parks from the same patron.
Artemis
Rotten Row W1 Nearest station: Hyde Park Corner
A bronze of the huntress on Rotten Row by Feodora Gleichen, who in 1922 became the first woman elected to the Royal Society of British Sculptors, posthumously, having died that year.
Questions
Why is there a giant nude in Hyde Park?
It is the national monument to Wellington, unveiled in 1822 and paid for by public subscription from the women of Britain. Westmacott based it on a classical group on the Quirinal in Rome. The nudity was contentious immediately, a fig leaf was added, and it has been removed and replaced more than once since.
What is the Reformers Tree?
A mosaic marking where an elm stood until it was burned during the Reform League demonstrations of 1866. The stump became a noticeboard for reform meetings, and the right of public assembly in the park was conceded shortly after. It is, in effect, a monument to a protest that worked.
Who was William Robert Colton?
A sculptor and Royal Academician who taught at the Royal Academy schools and produced public work across Britain and in India. He is much less known now than contemporaries of similar standing, and the figure in Hyde Park is his most encountered work in London.
Is Speakers' Corner connected to any of this?
Directly. The right to meet and speak in the park was conceded after the Reform League demonstrations that the Reformers Tree commemorates, and the corner near Marble Arch became the place where that right was exercised. It is a few minutes' walk from the mosaic.
Elsewhere on this site: war memorials, fountains of London.