Erection date: 1925
{Incised in the stone, either side of the relief:}
MDCCCXLI MCMXXII {1841 1922}
{Incised in the horizontal surface of the wide stones edging the pond and repeated on the raised plaque to the left:}
This sanctuary for birds is dedicated to the memory of W. H. Hudson, writer & field naturalist.
The sculpture represents Rima, the nature-spirit heroine of Hudson's book "Green Mansions". It caused quite a stir at the time, from the minute the PM unveiled it and was visibly shocked. The splendid Londonist reports that from 1927 until WW2 this memorial was subjected to a number of attacks: daubed in green paint, tarred and feathered, swastikaed, etc. It was not alone: vandals (possibly with strong views on styles in art) also attacked the nearby Peter Pan statue and sculptures around the country.
Epstein produced the relief and Gill the engraved texts.
Site: W. H. Hudson Memorial (1 memorial)
W2, Hyde Park - Meadow Wildlife
We don't know when the raised plaque was added but it was a mistake. The lawn and pond in front of the relief are symmetrical, low and horizontal. This ugly lump needs to be removed. If felt necessary the words could be given on a much smaller plaque attached to the railings (through which we poked the camera).
On-line Hyde Park boasts of its wild life meadows but we suspect the bird sanctuary is no more, unless it's this manicured lawn.
This memorial is south-facing and is best found (we discovered by the process of elimination) by approaching from the south-west.
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