Where: Oxford Street, W1
What: Originally intended as an entrance to Buckingham Palace, this ‘triumphal arch’ was made too narrow for the State Coach and became a gate into Hyde Park. Later, the park boundary was moved back, leaving Marble Arch as an entrance to nowhere.
More about London's Arch to nowhere:
- it stands near the site of Tyburn (which was where Edgware Road intersects Bayswater Road), where Tyburn Gallows stood and public executions took place until 1783. At Tyburn 21 people could be hanged concurrently.
- it is made of white Carrara marble, imported from Italy
- it has two rooms inside it (one on each side of the arch), which have been used by police for almost a century
- it was supposed to have a bronze equestrian statue of George IV on top. It ended up
in Trafalgar Square.
- it has had a temporary ice rink beside it each winter since 2002
- there is talk (in 2005) of moving it to the speakers corner area of Hyde Park, to become the main entrance to the park again.
Nearest underground station: Marble Arch