Wellington Arch facts for kids
The Wellington Arch is a famous triumphal arch in central London. It's also known as the Constitution Arch. You can find it at Hyde Park Corner, where Hyde Park meets Green Park. The arch stands on a large island in the middle of a busy road, with paths for people to walk across.
This grand arch was built between 1826 and 1830. It used to be in a slightly different spot nearby. In 1882–1883, it was moved to its current location at the top of Constitution Hill.
When it was first built, the arch had a huge statue of the 1st Duke of Wellington on top. That's how it got its name! Since 1912, a bronze statue called Peace descending on the Quadriga of War has been on the arch. This statue shows the Goddess of Victory, Nike, riding a quadriga (which is an ancient chariot pulled by four horses).
Building the Arch
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Both the Wellington Arch and Marble Arch were planned in 1825 by George IV, who was the King at the time. He wanted to celebrate Britain's wins in the Napoleonic Wars. In the late 1820s, the King and his team decided to make Hyde Park and the area around it look as grand as other big cities in Europe. They wanted a magnificent entrance to the newly finished Buckingham Palace.
The team in charge chose Decimus Burton as the architect. An important official named Charles Arbuthnot picked Burton because he liked his beautiful buildings in other parts of London. Burton wanted to create a special area to celebrate the royal family, national pride, and Britain's heroes.
Work on Hyde Park, Green Park, and St James's Park began in 1825. New roads and paths were made. Burton then designed new gates and lodges, like Cumberland Gate and Hyde Park Gate, all in a classical style.
At Hyde Park Corner, the King wanted a grand entrance that would suit the new palace. Burton suggested a gateway, a classical screen, and a triumphal arch. People approaching Buckingham Palace from the north would ride through the screen, then the arch, and finally turn left to go down Constitution Hill to the palace.
The screen became the beautiful Hyde Park Gate at Hyde Park Corner. The triumphal arch became the Wellington Arch. Burton's first design for the arch was based on the Arch of Titus in Rome. However, the committee wanted something grander, like the Arch of Constantine. So, Burton created a new, much larger design, which was approved in 1826 and built as the Wellington Arch we see today.
The arch has one main opening and uses the Corinthian order style. Many of the planned decorations were left out to save money. This was because the King was spending a lot on Buckingham Palace at the same time.
Statues on the Arch
For a long time, the Wellington Arch didn't have any decorations. Even though the architect, Decimus Burton, strongly disagreed, a giant statue of the Duke of Wellington was placed on top. This statue was made by Matthew Cotes Wyatt.
The bronze statue was enormous! It weighed 40 tons and was 28 feet (about 8.5 meters) high. It was the biggest statue of a person on a horse ever made at the time. Many people, including Burton, thought the statue was too big and looked out of place on the arch. They felt it made the arch look like just a base for the statue, instead of a grand arch itself.
Burton had imagined a much smaller statue of a four-horse chariot (a quadriga) on top, with the horses facing the same way as the road under the arch. But the Duke of Wellington's statue was placed across the road, which was unusual for classical arches.
Many people, including most of London's wealthy residents and almost every Member of Parliament, wanted the statue moved. They said it "disfigured" the arch. The Prime Minister, Sir Robert Peel, even offered other places for the statue. But the people who paid for the statue refused all other ideas.
Decimus Burton himself wrote that the huge statue would make his arch "suffer greatly in importance." He even said he would rather the arch stay empty than have such a giant statue on it.
The government put the Wellington statue on the arch in 1846. People continued to complain, saying it looked "ridiculous." Even a magazine called The Builder said it "must come down." Many people from other countries who visited London also thought the statue looked strange on the arch.
In 1882, London's traffic was getting very busy at Hyde Park Corner. People suggested moving the arch to the top of Constitution Hill to make more space for cars and carriages. When the arch was moved in 1883, the giant Wellington statue was finally taken down and moved to Aldershot.
In its place, a new statue called a Quadriga was added, made by Captain Adrian Jones. While some people think it's not as elegant as Burton's original idea, it fits the arch much better than the old statue. The horses in this new statue face the same way as the road under the arch.
Jones's statue shows Nike, the winged goddess of victory, riding a war chariot. She holds a laurel wreath, a symbol of victory. The face of the boy driving the chariot is actually the son of Lord Michelham, who paid for the sculpture. This statue is the largest bronze sculpture in Europe!
The boundary of Buckingham Palace Garden was moved, and a new road called Duke of Wellington Place was created. This separated the arch from the rest of Green Park.
Visiting the Arch
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The Wellington Arch is hollow inside. Until 1992, it held the smallest police station in London!
Today, the arch is owned by English Heritage and is open to visitors. You can go inside and explore three floors of exhibits. These exhibits tell the story of the arch's history. There are also high terraces on both sides of the arch where you can get great views of the area around it.
One part of the arch also works as a ventilation shaft. This helps air flow through the Hyde Park Corner road underpass, which was built in 1961–1962.
See also
In Spanish: Arco de Wellington para niños
