The Wellington Arch, also known as the Constitution Arch or (originally) as the Green Park Arch, is a Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton that forms a centrepiece of Hyde Park Corner in central London, between the corner where Hyde Park meets Green Park. The Arch stands on a large green-space traffic island with crossings for pedestrian access. From its construction (1826–1830) the arch stood in a nearby location, slightly to the east, directly across from Burton's Ionic screen entrance to Hyde Park; it was moved a short distance to its current site at the top of the Constitution Hill road in 1882–1883. The triumphal arch originally supported a colossal equestrian statue of the 1st Duke of Wellington by the sculptor Matthew Cotes Wyatt, acquiring its name as a result. Peace descending on the Quadriga of War by sculptor Adrian Jones, a bronze of the Goddess of Victory Nike riding a quadriga, has surmounted the arch since 1912.
1827 engraving showing the full ornamentation originally intended for the arch, including reliefs and statues. The engraving, from Thomas H. Shepherd's Metropolitan Improvements, was published while the arch was still under construction.
The Wellington Statue on the Arch in the 1850s. In its original configuration, the arch faced the screen entrance to Hyde Park, with Apsley House visible to the right. In the 1880s, the Arch was moved a short distance to the right of this picture and reoriented at the top of the Constitution Hill roadway. Atop the Arch, the statue was replaced with the Quadriga in 1912.
Hyde Park is a 350 acres (140 ha), historic Grade I-listed urban park in Westminster, Greater London. A Royal Park, it is the largest of the parks and green spaces that form a chain from Kensington Palace through Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park, via Hyde Park Corner and Green Park, past Buckingham Palace to St James's Park. Hyde Park is divided by the Serpentine and the Long Water lakes.
Hyde Park, with Kensington Gardens in foreground
The Hamilton–Mohun Duel of 1712. Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun, fighting James Hamilton, 4th Duke of Hamilton, in Hyde Park; both lost their lives.
Hyde Park, 1890, by Camille Pissarro, showing the footpath along the southern bank of the Serpentine
The Winter Wonderland festival has been a popular Christmas event in Hyde Park since 2007.