Battersea Park was Opened during 1858. Ordinary workmen armed with shovels, forks and wheelbarrows dug, planted and sculptured this beautiful landscape over a two-year period – directed by Britain’s best Engineers! A history of this Project explains:
‘By 1846 an Act of Parliament was passed which authorised the plan. James Pennethorne and John Gibson, both of whom had worked on Victoria Park in Hackney, created the design. They elected to raise and level the ground on which the park was to be built, and so 750,000 tons of soil was excavated from nearby Surrey Docks. The park was finally finished in 1854, and was officially opened four years later by Queen Victoria, alongside its neighbouring Chelsea Bridge.’
A newspaper article suggests the park was built between 1855-1857 – but this must refer to the final stage of designing the surface structure. If this assessment is correct, then the entire project (the underlying foundation and the surface aesthetics) could have taken 11-years (1846-1857) to fully complete. Of course, the historical backdrop to this building project saw the UK involved in the Crimean War (1853-1856) – a conflict with no clear winner – that was celebrated for the military incompetence that led to the (1854) ‘Charge of the Light Brigade’. Out of these times of questionable ‘imperialist’ tendencies abroad – an oasis of considerable peace and tranquillity was constructed within the British Isles! We visted the London Peace Pagoda and the Central Band Stand – as well as Flew our Revolutionary Flags!
SANGHA KOMMUNE (SSR) 