GREAT EATS HAWAII: MARBLE ARCH

MARBLE ARCH

LONDON, ENGLAND

Walked around the city our first day in London. Visited the London Arch, Number 10 Downing Street and other places of interest.

the arch was designed in 1825 by John Nash as ceremonial entrance to the new Buckingham Palace,^[2] which he was then rebuilding from the former Buckingham House. At that time the palace did not yet have its present flat east front, which meant that the inner courtyard, flanked by two wings, was still open on one side. The Marble Arch was placed at the entrance to this open side of the courtyard. Sculpture for the arch was commissioned from John Flaxman, Sir Richard Westmacott, Edward Hodges Baily and John Charles Felix Rossi;^[2] a bronze equestrian sculpture of George IV by Francis Chantrey was to stand on the top.

Construction began in 1827, but was cut short in 1830 because of rising costs. Work restarted in 1832, this time under the supervision of Edward Blore, who greatly reduced Nash's planned attic stage and omitted its sculpture, including the statue of George IV. The arch was completed in 1833.^[2]

The marble soon lost its whiteness in the polluted London atmosphere. In 1847, Sharpe's London Magazine described it as "discoloured by smoke and damp, and in appearance resembling a huge sugar erection in a confectioner's shop window".^[3]

In 1851 the arch was moved to its present location,^[2] when the new east range of the palace was built, closing in the courtyard. A popular story says that the arch was moved because it was too narrow for the Queen's state coach to pass through, but, in fact, the gold state coach passed under it during Elizabeth II's coronation in 1953.^[4]

There are three small rooms inside the rebuilt arch that were used as a police station until 1950, first for the royal constables of the Park and later the Metropolitan Police. One policeman stationed there during the early 1860s was Samuel Parkes, who won the Victoria Cross in the Charge of the Light Brigade in 1854, during the Crimean War.

It has been speculated that the arch might be moved across the street to Hyde Park, or to some other more-accessible location, instead of its current position on a large traffic island.^[5]