EFFIGIES AND MONUMENTS IN PARKS 



in the rightful place of some choice example of landscape art a curi- 

 ously wrought, bedecked and bedizened panoplied statue of — but no 

 one is interested in knowing what it is of. The illustration of it is 

 sufficient. 



HERO WORSHIP VERSUS PARK IDEALS 



In America, we have the horrid habit of placing an equestrian 

 statue to some war hero or other in the exact centre of every park, 

 making it the pivotal point of the park like the pin of a pin-wheel. As 

 a forerunner of this, the design of new parks very frequently takes a 

 radial form to provide for the future occupant, like preparing a tomb 

 against the inevitable day. It is hard to say in such case which is worse, 

 the park with the statue or the park in readiness for it. A radial design 

 without its central motive seems always held in suspense, and suggests 

 the house awaiting the tenant. The recognised circumstance that most 

 of our parks usually sooner or later "accept" a statue has resulted in 

 the perpetuation of the old geometrical pattern of the gardeners which 

 obviously provides a congenial lodging point at the centre for a monu- 

 ment. Those who have to use a park daily in passing to their work 

 and those obligated to keep up the appearance of such parks know that 

 a geometrical pattern of walk line provides little else than the afore- 

 mentioned site, and as for useful walks or lawns that can be kept from 

 trespass paths, such a design is worse than nil. Finally, and here is 

 another instance wherein the last argument might well be the first, a 

 park is a park and should not be made into a setting for a statue. Even 

 a large park loses its peaceful character when garnished with bronze 

 warriors on rearing horses. 



There are two expedients for eradicating or subordinating monu- 

 ments when they are not acceptable to a park development. First, 

 by educating the landscape architect to design new parks in such a 

 way that " conspicuous " monument sites will be exceedingly scarce; 

 secondly, by providing an alternative or substitute for the satis- 



172 



