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| Marble Arch & Speakers Corner tips and photos posted by real travelers and London locals.
Oxford Street/Hyde Park, W1
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 | London Marble Arch & Speakers Corner Reviews | 1 - 10 of 44 |  |
The Marble Arch called Wellington Arch was built in 1827 and designed to resemble the Arch of Constantine in Rome.
It is built of Italian Ravaccione Marble from Seravezzo. It originally stood as one of the entrances to the grounds of Buckingham Palace, but since it was inconvenient for the Royal Coaches to pass through, it was moved in 1851 to where it stands today. It stands in the middle of a large traffic island.
Warning: you cannot walk through the arch because that's for senior members of the Royal Family and The King's Troop of the Royal Horse Artillery.
This arch has three small rooms inside. Originally, they were used as an emergency police station, but the police abandoned it in 1950.
A sculpture by Adrian Jones was added to the top of the arch in 1912.
So sad that such a beautiful monument is in such a hectic location. Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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Marble Arch is one of the 'must see' places in the guidebooks. Or you will see it anyway if you travel or walk through the center of the city. It it surrounded by mass of trafic, but still looks gorgeous. Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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Sunday mornings in the Marble Arch area of Hyde Park, people gather to stand on their soap boxes (or ladders) and speak their mind. This was great fun! There was a lot of anti-war sentiment as well as people spouting off about nothing in particular.
Some just walk around in a sandwich board expressing their views! Be careful, some people expect tips when you take a photo!! Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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Marble Arch was designed by John Nash and built in 1828 as the main entrance to the Buckingham Palace. However, later in 1851 it was moved to be an entrance to the Hyde Park as it became too narrow for Buckingham Palace.
The Marble Arch is made of white Carrara Marble, it has three archways with columns in between.
John Nash is also famous for designing other well-known landmarks in London:
* the reworking of Buckingham Palace
* Carlton House Terrace
* the layout of Regent Street
* the layout of Trafalgar Square and St James's Park
* All Souls' in Langham Place and Park Crescent Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch is situated at the western end of Oxford Street. The tube station Marble Arch can be found on the Central Line.
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Marble Arch (named so because it is made of Carrara Marble) is located here at a corner entering Hyde Park. John Nash designed and built the arch in 1828 as the main entrance to Buckingham Palace. It was later moved to its present location because it became too narrow for the grandest of coaches to pass through it.
The arch consists of three archways with columns in between and is decorated with reliefs of what looks like Roman images. It is said that only the members of the Royal Family and one of the royal artillery regiments are allowed to pass under it, but I had no problem walking right throw the center archway. Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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Marble Arch was originally built as the front entrance for Buckingham palace in 1827. However as you can see from my picture, it is not in front of Buckingham Palace now!
Unfortunately it was not wide enough for the royaltys best and widest coaches to pass through, so it had to go. And off to Hyde Park it went, where it now stands very close to Speakers Corner.
Apparently only Royalty and members of a Royal Artillery regiment are supposed to pass through it. However on the day I visited, I saw anyone who felt like it passing through. I can hardly imagine anyone getting arrested for walking underneath it!
Recently I have heard rumours that Marble Arch may be on the move again to somewhere a bit nicer - we'll have to see! Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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This famous landmark in London is the gateway to Hyde Park.
Inside the park there is a place, Speakers Corner where anyone can get up and talk about something that concerns them. There were a few people listening to the fellow that we saw the day we strolled through Hyde Park. Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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In the Corner of Hyde Park, near Marble Arch, you can see and hear guys on chairs or small ladders or even on beer crates making speeches on different subjects, from politics, to religious themes.
If you are in the mood, it can be interesting to stop here for a quarter of an hour to listen to what these guys have to say. And if your English is good enough you can even start a discussion (but then you will need more then a quarter of an hour).
Oh yes, I think that these speeches are only on sunday. Leave a Comment Directions: Subway : Marble Arch
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This triumph Arch was designed by John Nash in 1827 as an entry gate to Buckingham palace. But as the gates seemed to narrow for the big coaches, it was moved over here near Hyde Park.
Close to Marble Arch, there is a triangle stone which remains to the spot where once stood the Gallows of Tyburn; here the poor people were sentenced to dead. Leave a Comment Directions: Subway : Marble Arch
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This is one of the institutions for which I deeply admire Britain. As long as people are allowed to come here in order to yell out even their strangest beliefs and as long as passers by will stop listen and discuss, all will be well with the Western world. Well, maybe not all, but the main thing will work -- free speech and all that stuff -- you know what I mean. As you come here and listen to the various speakers, you might also remind yourself that pluralism is to be sharply distinguished from relativism. Pluralism is the belief that different views should be allowed to compete with each other in order to find out the best one. Relativism is the doctrine that no comparison is possible because it all matters the same. Pluralism is a great thing, relativism sucks.
On a different note, I was strangely reminded of that market scene from "Monty Python's Life of Brian" but maybe that is because I watched the film first and came to Speakers Corner many years later... Leave a Comment Directions: Marble Arch tube
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