The History of Marble Arch

An iconic London landmark, Marble Arch isn’t just an interesting stop on a tourist trail around London. It’s also something of a sculptural treasure hunt and insight into the social history of the Victorian era.

The Marble Arch is a short four-minute walk from the Montcalm London city hotel, so we offer the perfect base for visiting this famous landmark.

Designed by the architect of choice at the time John Nash, who is also responsible for other grand buildings dotted around the capital city including Regent’s Park, Carlton House Terrace and most of Buckingham Palace, the idea behind Marble Arch was to be a grand entrance in celebration of British victories during the Napoleonic wars.

However, the arch we see today is a scaled down version of Nash’s original vision, because after the death of King George IV who originally commissioned the sculpture, Nash was sacked by the Prime Minister. The Duke of Wellington believed that the architect had spent too much money trying to bring his vision to life.

Later, architect Edward Blore was engaged to complete the arch following a far more practical and cost-effective design, so the original arch approved by the late king was never fully realised.

Visitors to London can take a look at a scaled model of John Nash’s Marble Arch at the Albert and Victoria Museum which is in easy reach of the Montcalm London city hotel.

Struggling to make sense of the variety of statues and ornate panels intended for the arch, Blore approached John Nash for guidance on how the elements would fit together. However, Nash refused to co-operate with Blore’s request for help, so all he had to work with was the small model.

Blore did his very best to complete the arch, and finally, in 1833 the construction was complete save for the ornamental gates which were added in 1837, just in time for Queen Victoria’s ascension to the throne.

But what happened to the rest of the unused sculptures?

Some of the military style sculptures did indeed make it into the final version of the Marble Arch we see today, but some remained unused and were eventually installed elsewhere around London.

A visit to the central courtyard of Buckingham Palace is where you’ll find some of the battle friezes intended for Marble Arch.

Blore also gave the rest of the remaining sculptures to William Wilkins for use in the construction of the new National Gallery; however, the military subject matter of many of the pieces was deemed inappropriate for the gallery. This meant some the statues were modified to reduce their military symbolism.

Over the main door of the gallery, you will spot Asia on her camel, and Europe sat upon a horse – these are both re-modelled statues left over from Nash’s original vision for Marble Arch.

If you stay at one of our 5 Star Hotels London, you can try this Marble Arch treasure hunt for yourself. Now you have an insight into the history of this much-loved London landmark, simply follow the trail of statues intended for Marble Arch and enjoy some of the finest Victorian architecture London has to offer.