When was marble arch built

LOG IN. Log into your account. Recover your password. London Guide. Share on Facebook. Best Champagne Bars in London. The 8 Best Beauty Shops in London. Top blogs. Combine a visit to the Barbican Centre with these five London March 10, The arch was to be topped by a huge equestrian statue of the king.

We know exactly what Nash had in mind because he created a scale model of his design to show the concept to the king. George IV approved and Nash commissioned a range of statues and sculptural friezes for the arch in The plans called for a military side to the arch, celebrating Wellington's victories over Napoleon, and a naval side celebrating Admiral Nelson's triumphs.

Both sides were adorned with sculpted panels of battle scenes and winged figures known as ' Victories '. One end was carved with the word ' Trafalgar ' and the other with ' Waterloo '. Under each name were inscribed the names of battles and prominent commanders. As with many of George IV's ambitious projects, the new archway and the sculptures meant to adorn it cost much more than estimated, but George wasn't one to mind overspending.

By the arch was under construction and most of the sculptures were finished, but then fate took a hand when the king died. The Prime Minister at the time of George IV's death was the Duke of Wellington - the same man whose triumphs the arch was meant to celebrate.

His attitude towards the cost overruns on the new arch was quite a bit different than the king's had been. He sacked Nash and called in Edward Blore to finish the arch in a much more economical fashion. Poor Blore found himself in possession of a large number of sculptures and architectural panels, but with no idea how they were meant to go together.

He asked Nash for the architectural drawings, but Nash, still smarting from being sacked by the Prime Minister, refused to hand over the plans. Blore was forced to do the best he could with the aid of the small model that Nash had made for the king. It is obvious that the model was merely a 'proof of concept' rather than an exact plan. For example, it shows the military side of the arch topped with a portrait of Admiral Nelson while the naval side depicts the Duke of Wellington.

Blore wisely decided that his best approach to cut costs was to get rid of most of the sculpture. He kept just four allegorical panels and a few small decorative elements. The ends, which should have had the names of battles and commanders, were left blank except for a trio of laurel wreaths. Blore finished the arch in The central gates were added in and the flanking gates in So now Blore had an arch, and a lot of sculptures and allegorical panels lying about.

What to do with them? He used several allegorical panels to decorate the central courtyard of Buckingham Palace and the rest of them he gave to architect William Wilkins for use on the National Gallery , which was being constructed at that time.

You can see figures of winged victories over the eastern and western doors of the National Gallery, and figures of Asia and Europe are over the main entrance. The equestrian statue of George IV that was supposed to sit on top of the arch now stands in the north-east corner of Trafalgar Square. The arch served its purpose as a ceremonial gateway to Buckingham Palace for just 17 years. But it was not a popular addition. Blore's finished Palace made the understated arch look like out of place.

There it could serve as an entrance to the Great Exhibition of which was being planned for the park. The job of moving the arch was given to the architect Thomas Cubitt.

Under Cubitt's direction, the arch was disassembled, stone by stone, and reassembled in its current location in just three months. An odd rumour sprang up that the reason the arch was moved was that it had proven to be too narrow for Queen Victoria's state coach to pass through. The striking name, suggests Tom Bolton in his book Vanished City , may have derived from a legend that says Saint Edmund of East Anglia once cured cripples as they passed through the gate here.

As we mooted in a video on the gates of the City, 'Cripplegate' may also derive from the Anglo-Saxon word 'crepel', which means subterranean passageway. The Barbican Estate began to rise slowly from the rubble in the late s — named after the Roman fort that stood here centuries ago, part of which became the Cripplegate itself. You'll still see signs for Cripplegate now; it still exists as one of the City's wards divided into 'within' and 'without'.

Barbican's incongruous St Giles Church — parts of which date back to — is dedicated to the patron saint of cripples. The best things to do in London. The must-read London articles. The coolest London events from our partners.

By Will Noble Last edited 56 months ago. Marble Arch Photo: Dennis. Report a problem with this article. X close. Londonist in your inbox Plan your day ahead or read the day's London headlines with our daily emails.

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