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Round Pond (London)

AC with 0 elementsKensington GardensLakes of LondonLondon stubsParks and open spaces in the City of Westminster
Parks and open spaces in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea
Round Pond Kensington Gardens
Round Pond Kensington Gardens

The Round Pond is an ornamental lake in Kensington Gardens, London, in front of Kensington Palace. The pond was created in 1730 by George II. It is approximately seven acres (2.8 ha) in extent, measuring approximately 200 by 150 metres (660 by 490 ft). It is up to 5 metres (16 ft) deep. Despite its name, it is not circular, but rectangular with stepped and rounded corners. With a long history of popularity with model yacht enthusiasts, it is the home of the Model Yacht Sailing Association (established 1876) and the London Model Yacht Club (established 1884).The cover photo for the 1981 Tears for Fears single "Mad World" was taken at Round Pond.

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Round Pond (London)
Budge's Walk, City of Westminster Paddington

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Geographical coordinates (GPS)

Latitude Longitude
N 51.505833333333 ° E -0.18333333333333 °
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Budge's Walk

Budge's Walk
W2 3PF City of Westminster, Paddington
England, United Kingdom
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Round Pond Kensington Gardens
Round Pond Kensington Gardens
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Statue of Queen Victoria, Kensington Palace
Statue of Queen Victoria, Kensington Palace

A statue of Queen Victoria stands near Kensington Palace. It was sculpted by Victoria's fourth daughter Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll and erected in 1893. The statue was made from white marble on a Portland stone base. It depicts Victoria aged 18, seated in her coronation robes, resembling the painting of Victoria at her coronation by Sir George Hayter. The statue received a Grade II listing in 1969. Victoria was born in Kensington Palace in May 1819, and spent most of her early life there until she ascended to the throne in 1837. The statue was made to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria in 1887 but took some years to complete. It was commissioned by the Kensington Golden Jubilee Memorial Executive Committee, who sought design proposals. Princess Louise was reluctant to take up a commission to sculpt her mother, but was persuaded to make a model by her friend, the artist Lawrence Alma-Tadema. She submitted her entry anonymously, and it was selected by the judging panel. Princess Louise was herself resident at Kensington Palace, and she sculpted the statue at her studio there (although some press reports suggested it was made by her tutor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm). The completed sculpture was unveiled by Queen Victoria on 28 June 1893. The statue suffered bomb damage during the Second World War, with shrapnel removing its nose in 1945. The damaged nose was replaced before the accession of Queen Elizabeth II in 1952, and the nose was replaced a second time for the Golden Jubilee of Elizabeth II in 2012. A bronze casting of the statue stands in front of the Royal Victoria College, Montreal, now the Strathcona Music Building of McGill University. The replica was commissioned by Donald Smith, 1st Baron Strathcona and Mount Royal, founder of Royal Victoria College, and unveiled in 1900 by Gilbert Elliot-Murray-Kynynmound, 4th Earl of Minto, then Governor General of Canada.

London Museum
London Museum

The London Museum, established to illustrate the history of London, England. was inaugurated on 21 March 1912 by King George V with Queen Mary and Princess Mary and Prince George in temporary accommodation within the second-floor State Apartments at Kensington Palace. It opened to the public on 8 April, admitting more than 13,000 visitors during the day. Two years after opening, the collections were moved to Lancaster House in St James's, and the museum remained there until World War II. The first Keeper of the museum was Sir Guy Francis Laking, and from 1926 to 1944 the Keeper was the archaeologist Mortimer Wheeler. During World War II, much of the collection was evacuated for storage at nearby Dover Street tube station, and later at Piccadilly Circus tube station. Some of the galleries at Lancaster House reopened to the public in 1942, but in November 1943 the building was requisitioned by the Ministry of Works as a conference centre and base for the new European Advisory Commission, the museum retaining only the basement for storage of its collections. After World War II, attempts to reclaim Lancaster House for the museum's use failed. Eventually in 1948 George VI agreed that the museum might be accommodated once more in part of Kensington Palace, this time on the lower two floors, and it reopened there in July 1951. In 1975, under the directorship of Donald Harden, the London Museum was amalgamated with the City of London's Guildhall Museum to form the Museum of London, which opened to the public in a new building in the City of London in 1976.