Bought by King Henry VIII from the monks of Westminster for use as a hunting ground, the park was opened to the public by King Charles in the 1630s. In the 1730s, Queen Caroline used the Westbourne River to make the Serpentine.
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Hyde Park
Achilles
This tribute to the Duke of Wellington and his men, cast by Sir Richard Westmacott from captured cannon, was unveiled in 1822. Oddly, the sword was only added in 1864. London’s first nude, it caused controversy and so a fig leaf was added. It has been broken off twice - in 1870 and 1961.
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
Little Nell
An artificial stone copy of 1975 replaces an 1896 original by William Robert Colton (1867-1921). Colton - a notable Victorian sculptor - is best known for the Royal Artillery Memorial on The Mall, a few notable public works in Australia and The Girdle, a sensuous nude now in the Tate Britain collection.
Tube: Hyde Park Corner
The Old Police House
Built in 1902, this lovely Queen Anne-style building is the home of the Royal Parks Agency. The parks police force, part of the Metropolitan Police, traces its origins to the Royal Parks Keepers of 1872, one of whose Inspectors, Samuel Parkes, had won the Victoria Cross in the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854.
Tube: Knightsbridge
Norwegian War Memorial
‘You gave us a safe haven in our common struggle for freedom and peace,’ reads the inscription on this simple block of Norwegian granite. It was presented in 1978 by the country’s navy and merchant navy fleet - many of whose ships and men fled to Britain in 1940 when Nazi Germany invaded Norway.
Tube: Knightsbridge
Pet Cemetery
The first burial here was in the 1880s of Cherry, the pet terrier of Mr and Mrs Bernard. The Duke of Cambridge (1819-1904), commander-in-chief of the army - after whom many English pubs are named - buried his wife’s dog Prince here, starting a fashion that lasted until space ran out in 1915 after 300 burials.
Tube: Lancaster Gate
Queen Caroline Memorial
Queen Caroline was the beloved wife of George II. Dying with an infection after a hernia operation in 1737, she urged the king to marry again, but he said: ‘No! I shall have mistresses instead.’ This urn - unveiled by the Queen in 1990 - marks her vision in creating the Serpentine lake, which it overlooks.
Tube: Knightsbridge
Rima
This nude by Jacob Epstein caused great controversy, being tarred and feathered in 1929 after a similar attack on Peter Pan after a heated public debate on the relative merits of both. This bird garden is dedicated to naturalist and writer William H Hudson; Rima, the bird-girl, was one of his characters.
Tube: Lancaster Gate
Vijianagram Fountain
‘A Fountain Given By His Highness The Hon Maharajah Meerza Vijiaram Gajapati Raj Maneah Sooltan Bahadoor Of Vijianagram KCSI Stood On This Site From 1867 Until 1964.’ After the cholera epidemic of 1854, fountains were a welcome gift. Cowasji Jehangir Readymoney gave one to Regent’s Park in 1869.
Tube: Marble Arch
