On this page:
Diana Fountain
Name of monument | Diana Fountain | |
Description | Bronze statue of goddess (sometimes described as Arethusa) on a marble and stone fountain, surrounded by bronzes of four boys, four water nymphs and four shells. | |
Location | Centre of the round basin at the junction of Chestnut and Lime Avenues. | |
History\background | Designed for Henrietta Maria, wife of King Charles l and originally set in her garden at Somerset House. It was moved to the Privy Garden of Hampton Court in 1656. In 1712 the fountain and statue were moved to Bushy Park to the middle of Chestnut Avenue, designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The fountain was restored in 2009 as part of the Bushy Park Restoration Project. | |
Designer | Hubert Le Sueur. | |
Dates | Statue designed in 1637. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | Le Sueur submitted an invoice for £200 for the statue. The exact weight and height of the statue (2.38m tall and 924kg) were confirmed for the first time when it was moved for restoration. During restoration, a stone was uncovered on the base of the statue for the first time. It had a crown and the date AR 1712 (AR for Anne Regis) and would have been added when the fountain and statue were installed in the basin. |
SHAEF Gate
Name of monument | SHAEF Gate | |
Description | Metal pedestrian gate. | |
Location | In the park wall between Teddington and Sandy Lane Gates. | |
History\background | Commemorates D-day (6 June 1944) which was planned at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces based in Bushy Park between March and June 1944 (see SHAEF Memorial). | |
Dates | Installed 1994. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | The gate marks the former main entrance to the camp used by SHAEF, headed by General Eisenhower. You can still see four trees that were once in the middle of a roundabout just inside the former camp entrance. |
SHAEF Memorial
Name of monument | SHAEF Memorial | |
Description | White flagpole and ground plaque. | |
Location | East of Teddington Gate. | |
History\background | On 5 March 1944 General Eisenhower moved SHAEF (Supreme Headquarters Allied Expeditionary Forces) from Grosvenor Square in London to Camp Griffiss, a large US base in Bushy Park. From here he planned Operation Overlord, the code name of the D-Day landings in Normandy. On 2 June 1944 the advance headquarters moved to Portsmouth and the landings took place on 6 June. | |
Dates | Installed 1994 on the 50th anniversary of SHAEF moving to Bushy Park. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | The plaque marks the position of Eisenhower's office. He is said to have relaxed by sketching the pine trees that he could see from his office window. The final buildings of Camp Griffiss were removed in 1963 but there are still signs of the camp, including brackets in trees that held telephone wires. |
Totem Pole
Name of monument | Totem Pole | |
Description | Wooden carved totem pole. | |
Location | North of the Waterhouse Pond in the Waterhouse Woodland Garden. | |
History\background | Installed to mark the connection between Canada and Bushy Park, which housed a large Canadian camp during World War l. | |
Designer | Norman Tait. | |
Dates | 1992 | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | The Totem Pole was donated with the assistance of the Canadian High Commission. At its base is Killerwhale, the monarch of the sea, and on top Eagle, the monarch of the air. They represent contact between Europeans and native Americans, first by sea and then by air. |
USAAF Memorial
Name of monument | USAAF Memorial | |
Description | Tablet marking the site of Camp Griffiss, the European headquarters of the United States 8th Army Air Force from July 1942-December 1944. | |
Location | East of Teddington Gate. | |
History\background | Dedicated by the Royal Air Force, the memorial is inscribed with the words: "It is through fraternity that liberty is saved". It also commemorates the Berlin Airlift, which was coordinated from Camp Griffiss after World War II ended. | |
Dates | In 1999 HRH the Prince of Wales unveiled a plaque to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the lifting of the blockade on Berlin. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | Camp Griffiss was named after Lieutenant colonel Townsend Griffiss, the first US airman to die in the line of duty in Europe after the US entered World War II. |
No results were found