Victoria Tower Gardens
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Victoria Tower Gardens is a public park along the north bank of the River Thames in London. As its name suggests, it is adjacent to the Victoria Tower, the south-western corner of the Palace of Westminster. The park, which extends southwards from the Palace to Lambeth Bridge, sandwiched between Millbank and the river, also forms part of the Thames Embankment.
[edit] History
It was created during the 1870s by Joseph Bazalgette, and was part of a project for the Metropolitan Board of Works to provide London with a modern sewerage system.
The park features:
- A reproduction of the sculpture The Burghers of Calais by Auguste Rodin, purchased by the British Government in 1911 and positioned in the Gardens in 1915 (currently away on exhibition).
- A 1930 statue of the suffragette Emmeline Pankhurst, by A.G. Walker
- The Buxton Memorial Fountain – originally constructed in Parliament Square, this was removed in 1940 and placed in its present position in 1957. It was commissioned by Charles Buxton MP to commemorate the emancipation of slaves in 1834, dedicated to his father Thomas Fowell Buxton, and designed by Gothic architect Samuel Sanders Teulon (1812-1873) in 1865.
- A stone wall with two modern-style goats with kids – situated at the southern end of the Gardens.
[edit] Transport
The nearest London Underground stations are Westminster and Pimlico.
