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Ian Dury Bench
Name of monument | Ian Dury bench | |
Description | Wooden bench with solar panels built into the arm rests. Visitors can plug headphones into a socket and hear several of Drury's songs and an interview. | |
Location | Poet's Corner in Pembroke Lodge Gardens. | |
History\background | Remembers the rock star, Ian Dury, best known for Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick and What A Waste, who died in 2000. | |
Designer | Mil Strichevic. | |
Dates | 2002 | |
Maintenance\care | Ian Dury's family. | |
Interesting facts | The back of the bench is inscribed with the words: Reasons to be cheerful, the title of one of Dury's other famous songs. Ian Dury used to take his children to Richmond Park. |
King Henry's Mound
Name of monument | King Henry's Mound | |
Description | Steep mound. | |
Location | Pembroke Lodge Gardens between Pembroke Lodge and Richmond Gate. | |
History\background | Probably a prehistoric burial chamber later used as a viewpoint for hunting and falconry. Now the viewpoint for a protected vista of St Paul's Cathedral. | |
Designer | Burial chamber. Possibly Bronze Age. | |
Dates | ||
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | It was traditionally thought to be the spot where King Henry VIII stood on 19 May 1536 to watch a rocket fired from the Tower of London. This was the signal that his wife Anne Boleyn had been executed for treason and he would be able to marry Lady Jane Seymour. The story is unlikely to be true because Henry spent that evening in Wiltshire. |
Park walls
Name of monument | Park walls | |
Description | 6.3 miles of brick wall. | |
Location | Around the perimeter of Richmond Park. | |
History\background | Sections date from 17th century when King Charles I enclosed Richmond Park. | |
Designer | ||
Dates | The original wall was built in 1637 but parts have been repaired and replaced. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | The original bricks were fired on site in the park. King Charles I was forced to cut gates and install ladders across the walls to allow local people to cross the park. |
Poet's seat
Name of monument | Poet's seat | |
Description | Curved metal bench. | |
Location | Outside north end of Pembroke Lodge Gardens. | |
History\background | Installed at view point overlooking Petersham Park in the area known as Poet's Corner. | |
Designer | Jane Fowles, Land Use Consultants. | |
Dates | 1994 | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | Inscribed with lines by James Thomson, an 18th century Scottish poet best known for writing the words to Rule Britannia!, who spent the end of his life in Richmond. |
Thomson Memorial
Name of monument | Thomson Memorial | |
Description | Black wooden board remembering the 18th century poet, James Thomson (see above). | |
Location | North eastern end of Pembroke Lodge Gardens. | |
History\background | Board installed in memory of Thomson who died at Richmond in 1748. Thomson's best-known poem is The Seasons. The board is has a poem about Thomson by the writer and historian John Heneage Jesse. | |
Designer | ||
Dates | Original board installed 1851. | |
Maintenance\care | The Royal Parks. | |
Interesting facts | The original memorial was two boards attached to trees near Pembroke Lodge stables. A version of the present board was erected in 1895 by the Selbourne Society. Lines from Thomson's famous poem, The Seasons, are inscribed on King Henry's Mound. |
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