Page 43 - Demo

43INTRODUCTIONThis article provides a short account of the main statues, monuments and memorials in the central and northern parts of Hyde Park. A few notable buildings are also mentioned. It is set out in the order that they might be encountered on a long walk through the park, starting at Hyde Park Corner. (Articles in the Annual Reviews of 2023 and 2019 looked at the monuments in the south of the Park and in Kensington Gardens.) Enter the park through Apsley Gate at Hyde Park Corner. Cross the road and continue north, across Serpentine Road, to the Broad Walk. Take the first path slanting off on the left alongside the railed-off shrubbery. Cross one junction. At the end of the shrubbery on the left is the %u201cLittle Nell%u201d statue.%u201cLITTLE NELL%u201d STATUE This statue, in artificial stone, was installed in 1975 and is a copy of a lost Art Nouveau statue of 1896 MONUMENTS, STATUES and MEMORIALS of HYDE PARK (North)Nigel Coxby William Robert Cotton (who also sculpted the Royal Artillery Memorial in the Mall). Originally described as a %u201cwinged child with fish%u201d, the name %u201cLittle Nell%u201d was later associated with it, recalling the (more decorously clothed) child character in Charles Dicken%u2019s %u201cOld Curiosity Shop%u201d. Dickens described her death scene with such mawkish pathos that Oscar Wilde opined that one would have to have a heart of stone to read it without laughing. The statue previously stood near the junction of the paths opposite the Serpentine Caf%u00e9 (formerly Dell Caf%u00e9). In 2006 it was decapitated by vandals, but it was restored and then moved to this location, thanks to an American donor living in London. Retrace your steps to the first junction and head left (east), crossing over the Broad Walk and taking the path ahead. At the end, after a junction and near the Park%u2019s eastern railings, north of Curzon Gate, is the 7 July Memorial. THE 7 JULY MEMORIALThis Memorial commemorates the 52 people killed in Islamist terrorist attacks in London on 7 July 2009. It was unveiled on the event%u2019s fourth anniversary by the then Prince of Wales and The Duchess of Cornwall, now The King and Queen. It consists of 52 stainless steel pillars or stelae, collectively representing the 52 victims, grouped together in four interlinking clusters reflecting the four locations of the incidents. Constructed from solid-cast, long-lasting stainless steel, each stela measures 3.5 metres high and is unique, with individual characteristic finishes brought about by the casting process. They are inscribed with the date, time and locations of the bombings. A stainless-steel plaque listing the names of the victims is sited on a grass bank at the far eastern end of the memorial.The memorial was produced by a design team including architects Carmody Groarke and engineering team Arup, who worked in close consultation with representatives of the bereaved families and advisors from the Royal Parks and the Department of Culture, Media and Sport. It was cast by a Sheffield foundry, Norton Cast Products.Retrace your steps but now take the first path on the right %u2013 Lovers%u2019 Walk (an avenue mainly of walnut trees, but with an unusual spreading narrow-leafed ash on the right) %u2013 north to the Four Winds fountain (opposite Aldford Street).THE FOUR WINDS (or JOY OF LIFE) FOUNTAIN This area originally accommodated a reservoir supplying the royal