Esoteric London

Wellington Arch, Hyde Park Corner, London, W1. Photo © Roger Dean 2013

Metropolitan Improvements; or London in the Nineteenth Century: Being a Series of Views, of the New and Most Interesting objects, in the British Metropolis and its Vicinity – James Elmes, 1829:

Entrance To The King’s Palace, Hyde Park Corner

The design of this very beautiful palatial entrance, is classical and appropriate, is one of the most distinguished ornaments of our metropolis, and possesses an originality of thought, that is rarely met with, in modern compositions of this kind. The masonry and sculpture are beautifully executed, and tend by their perfection to the unity of appearance between the artist’s design and the artisan’s execution, which is alike creditable to both.

[ The photograph above is a detail of the gates of the Wellington Arch. R.D.]