On one of the hottest days of the year a group of us enjoyed a visit to Apsley House and the Wellington Arch. Apsley House is the London home of the Duke of Wellington. Just across the (very busy) road is the Wellington Arch. Both are owned by English Heritage.
Apsley House
Known as ‘Number 1, London’, Apsley was the first house on the north side of Piccadilly, located opposite a turnpike with toll houses. Nowadays this Grade I listed building stands alone at Hyde Park Corner, on the south-east corner of Hyde Park, facing towards the large traffic roundabout and the Wellington Arch. Getting to the venue is easy by public transport and, considering its location, it is not surprising there is no parking available on site.
Our group met outside the gates and crossed the cobbled forecourt to a small flight of steps to the front door. I had missed the note on the website that there is no ramp available. Luckily our companion with the walking frame was able to mount the stairs with assistance. As well as the five steps to the front door, there are also eight steps down, inside the building, to the lift. Luckily she managed those steps too. The staff at Apsley House were extremely helpful in getting her up and down steps and even provided us with a wheelchair to get her around the house.
The website notes that multi-media guides are included in the admission price, but we had a personal guided tour of the building. Our very knowledgeable guide took us round the highlights and recounted the history of the house, before leaving us to browse the treasures further by ourselves.
The staircase is home to an enormous statue of Napoleon, which was originally commissioned from the Italian sculptor Canova by Napoleon himself.
In the Striped Drawing Room we were able to see five of Wellington’s military dress uniforms. Four of them were given to Wellington by European nations in recognition of his victories during the Napoleonic Wars.
There is a vast collection of paintings there, far more than we’d realised, and one of the biggest silver dinner services in the country. A number of the Duke of Wellington’s paintings collection came from the Spanish Royal Collection. This had been rescued from Joseph Bonaparte, and given to Wellington by King Ferdinand of Spain.
After the tour with visited the basement exhibition, which included an original plaster death mask, and the museum room.
Tickets are available from https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/apsley-house/
- Open Wed-Sun 11am-5pm
- Allow approx 1.5 hours to visit Apsley House.
- Tours (additional charge) on the first Thursday of every month, limited to 15 places per tour.
The Wellington Arch
After our visit to Apsley, we carefully crossed the busy roads to the large traffic roundabout and the Wellington Arch. There we were met by another guide, Clive. He very enthusiastically told us about the building, before taking us on to the roof terrace and pointing out all the things we could see from our vantage point. As it was such a beautiful day, the views were great – although foliage on the trees, meant that we couldn’t see too much in the gardens of Buckingham Palace.
The Wellington Arch is a Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton. Built as an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, it later becoming a victory arch proclaiming Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon. The largest bronze sculpture in Europe, depicting the Angel of Peace descending on the four-horsed chariot (Quadriga) of War, tops the structure.
There are 65 steps in the spiral staircase to the top of the Wellington Arch. Luckily there is a lift to the top gallery and a smaller lift to the viewing area.
Tickets are available from https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/visit/places/wellington-arch/
- Open Wed-Sun 10am-5pm
- Allow approx 0.5 hours to visit Wellington Arch.
Hard Rock Cafe
Finally, we headed to the iconic Hard Rock Cafe for a very enjoyable lunch, with great service.
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