Marble Arch was designed by John Nash in 1828 to be the main entrance to
Buckingham Palace. It was moved to its present site in 1851 when an
extension was built to Buckingham Palace, leaving insufficient space for the
Arch.
Marble Arch replaced Cumberland Gate as a new entrance to Hyde Park at
the top of Park Lane, complementing the Ionic Arch by Decimus Burton at
Hyde Park Corner. The road layout was changed in 1908 and 1961 which
left Marble Arch on an island site.
The location is on an axis of two great Roman Roads. One linked Colchester
to the west country; the other, Watling Street (Edgware Road), linked with
St. Albans to the north. The Romans are thought to have built both these
roads along the line of two older tracks which followed the high ground to
avoid marshy areas. Edgware Road is mid-way between the Tyburn and
Westbourne streams.
For 600 years this crossroads was known as Tyburn. A plaque in the traffic
island at the junction of Edgware Road and Bayswater Road marks the site
where gallows were thought to have stood from 1571 to 1759. The gallows
were known as the Tyburn Tree but were replaced by movable gallows
when a toll-house was built on the site for the turnpike road. In the 18th
century Oxfor Street was called Tyburn Road and Park Lane was Tyburn
Lane. By around 1780 Oxford Street was fully built up as a residential area
and the last public execution at Tyburn was held in 1783.
From 1855 a number of large protest meetings were held in Hyde Park. In
1872 the right to free assembly was recognised in the north-east corner,
now known as Speakers' Corner, near Marble Arch. Since then anyone has
been able to say what they like at Speakers' Corner provided they do not
break the laws against blasphemy or obscenity or constitute an incitement
to a breach of the peace.
Not all details which were planned for Marble Arch were built. A plaster
model in the Victoria and Albert Museum shows the originally proposed
design. John Nash and the Prince Regent based the design on both the Arch
of Constantine in Rome and on Napoleon's triumpal Arc du Carrousel in
Paris.
The reliefs in the square panels on the north side are by Sir Richard
Westmacott and show three female figures representing England, Scotland
and Ireland and an allegorical group depicting Peace and Plenty. The panels
on the south side are by Edward Hodges Baily, an eminent sculptor of the
day, and show a naval warrior with a figure of Justice and another group
depicting Peace and Plenty.
The bronze gates were made by Samuel Parker and show the lion of
England, the cypher of George IV, and the figure of St. George and the
dragon. The gateway is only used by royal processions or by the Royal
Horse Artillery on their ceremonial route to fire a sluate in Hyde Park.
There are a number of majestic London Plane trees (Platanus x hispanica)
which are the predominant tree in Central London having originally been
planted to withstand pollution when air quality was not as good as it is
today. The large Plane trees and those along the eastern side of Park Lane
would have originally formed the boundary of Hyde Park before the north
carriageway of Park Lane was built. Another noteworthy tree is the Golden
Indian Bean Tree (Catalpa bignonioides 'Aurea') situated on the western side
of Marble Arch. It is a form of the true Catalpa bignonioides of the eastern
United States, some of which are planted by the Houses of Parliament in
Westminster. Other trees include species of Maple (Acer) and a weeping Ash
(Fraxinus excelsior 'Pendula'), the Oleaster (Elaeagnus angustifolia) a small
tree with silvery-grey willow-like leaves widely naturalised in S. Europe and
Dawn Redwood (Metasequoia glyptostroboides) recently planted and native
to China.
For further information about the area please contact the Parks Manager.