Marble Arch & Speakers Corner, London

Near Speakers Corner in Hyde Park (northeast corner) is Marble Arch, originally intended to be the grand entrance to Buckingham Palace but removed by Queen Victoria when she enlarged the palace in 1851. The arch is rather odd I suppose as it doesn't connect to anything nor is it a true entrance to Hyde Park, it's just sort of plunked down there. It took a bit of work to get to it from Edgware Road, but follow the signs in the underground passageways and eventually you'll get there.

It was designed by John Nash in 1828 and it made of white Carrara marble, the design based on the triumphal arch of Constantine in Rome. There are three small rooms inside that were used as a police station until 1950.

My guidebook says that only senior members of the royal family and one royal artillery regiment is allowed to pass underneath it but unless someone declared me Queen and didn't tell me, this is either a rumor or not enforced. Wait, I *am* the Queen of the babushkas, does that count?

I think that Marble Arch is beautiful, and once you see this, you know that you have 'arrived' in The West End.

Marble Arch was built by John Nash, him of the Brighton Pavilion fame in 1828.
It is at the western end of Oxford street in Hyde Park by Speakers corner. The Arch was actually built as the main entrance gate into Buckingham Palace, but when the palace was extended in 1858. The Arch was moved to where it stands now at Hyde Park corner.
Marble Arch actually 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 around Marble Arch has been changed very many times, at one time it had been on the axis for a road to the North from London and a through road from Colchester to the West country by the Romans. It of course has had to be changed due to increasing traffic in 1908 and 1961 which left Marble Arch as an island.

There is actually a more macabre history to Marble Arch.
For 600 years, this was called the 'Tyburn' road, which was famed for it's Gallows. Prisoners were brought from Highgate prison and hung in front of crowds of adults and children who treated this as a day out!, ugh!, not my idea of a day out I can assure you.
People who had committed murder or who had committed suicide were laid to rest in unhallowed ground here too. There is a plaque mentioning this fact in the grounds of Hyde Park.

I think that Marble Arch is beautiful and once you see this, you know that you have 'arrived' in The West End.

Marble Arch was built by John Nash, him of Brighton Pavilion fame in 1828.
It is at the western end of Oxford street in Hyde Park by Speakers corner. The Arch was actually built as the main entrance gate into Buckingham Palace, but when the palace was extended in 1858. The Arch was moved to where it stands now at Hyde Park corner.
Marble Arch actually 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 around Marble Arch has been changed very many times, at one time it had been on the axis for a road to the North from London and a through road from Colchester to the West country by the Romans. It of course has had to be changed due to increasing traffic in 1908 and 1961 which left Marble Arch as an island.

There is actually a more macabre history to Marble Arch.
For 600 years, this was called the 'Tyburn' road, which was famed for it's Gallows. Prisoners were brought from Highgate prison and hung in front of crowds of adults and children who treated this as a day out!, ugh!, not my idea of a day out I can assure you.
People who had comitted murder or who had committed suicide were laid to rest in unhallowed ground here too. There is a plaque mentioning this fact in the grounds of Hyde Park.

Marble Arch was designed by John Nash in 1828. Built of white Carrara marble, the design was taken from the triumphal arch of Constantine in Rome. It was erected to form a grand gateway to Buckingham Palace. When Queen Victoria and Prince Albert decided to enlarge the palace in 1851, room was made for the extension by removing the vast arch, which then became an entrance to Hyde Park.

At Hyde Park corner, people still gather today at what is known as Speakers Corner, but happily for a less macabre reason. On Sunday afternoons speakers and hecklers assemble to debate a variety of topics.

It seems that Queen Victoria disliked this so muc, she had Marble Arch moved from the from of Buckingham Palace as part of the expansion programme, she and her beloved Bertie undertook in 1851.

The arch was designed by John Nash in 1828, and was built of Carrara marble.

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.

4 more images

On the 19th of August, a VT meeting was arranged to welcome travellers from Croatia.

I was in a very good, optimistic mood this fine day. It was my first time on foot around Marble Arch, and vaguely aware of the fact that executions once used to take place here, I decided to investigate a bit.

Of all people, I ran into an American, Jack, who was also aware of this history. He decided to help me out, as I stirred & aroused his 'suppressed' curiousities as well!!

There is a road in the middle called Tyburn Place, also a board mentioning this gruesome past, stating the actual site is around the intersection of Edgware Road & Bayswater Road. We could not see any particular 'spot', so we exchanged email addrs & Jack left me to 'discover' the past..

No actual site is marked as the 'point', but I have a feeling it was where the trees are...

John Nash designed the Marble Arch, like much else of elegance in London. It was built in 1828 as the chief entrance to Buckingham Palace, but when the Palace was extended in 1851, the Arch was moved to its current site as an entrance to Hyde Park. By tradition, only senior members of the royal family, the King’s Troop and the Royal Horse Artillery are allowed to ride or drive through the Arch.