Next to the Houses of Parliament is a small triangular park which runs alongside the River Thames. It is known as Victoria Tower Gardens. It is named after the Victoria Tower(which you can see in this photo) where the parliamentary archives are kept. Quite often Members of Parliament can be seen being interviewed by the media in the park.
Although very small it is interesting to go and visit as there are three monuments/statues of historical note.
The Buxton Memorial
This was erected to commemorate the emancipation of slaves following the 1883 Abolition of slavery act. It was donated by Charles Buxton MP in memory of his father and others who worked together in the struggle for the abolition of slavery in the British Colonies. The memorial was originally in Parliament square but was moved in 1957 on the 150th anniversary of the 1807 act abolishing Trans Atlantic Slave trade.
The Burghers of Calais by Rodin
This statue represents 6 citizens of Calais who offered themselves as hostages to King Edward 111 during the 100yr war between England and France. The King ordered them to be beheaded but they were saved by the English Queen Philippa. The statue dates from 1895 and can be found in cities throughout the world including Paris, Venice, Washington, Seoul, New York and Canberra.
Emmeline (Emily) Pankhurst (1858-1928)
This statue was erected as a tribute to the courageous leadership of Emily as she led the movement to win the right for women to vote.
If you look at the statue you can see her right hand is pointing towards the Houses of Parliament
I've been here!!! I was wandering around admiring the exterior of the the Houses of Parliament (since you can't go inside) and was pleasantly surprised to come upon this little park! My favourite sculpture was of "The Burghers of Calais", fascinating story! :o)
ReplyDeleteI know I took lots of photos... must have put them up on Facebook instead of the blog since I barely mentioned this garden on my post on Westminster... oops! ;o)
If you're interested, here's my take on the area:
http://criscrossing.blogspot.com.es/2009/08/wandering-in-westminster-london-day-3.html