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The Great Britain Guide

Gardens · London

Foch

Foch — Public artwork (statue).

Foch, gardens in London

Wikimedia Commons contributors — see linked file page for photographer and licence licence

Plan your visit

Typical visit
1 h–2.5 h
Best time of year
Spring & summer (Apr–Sep)
Nearest railway station
Victoria · 0.1 km
  • Dog-friendly

About

Foch is a place of interest in the United Kingdom. Records date its origin to 1929. Wikidata describes it as: "Public artwork (statue).". Coordinates: 51.4964°, -0.1453°.

Photo gallery

From the Wikipedia article

The equestrian statue of Ferdinand Foch stands in Lower Grosvenor Gardens, London. The sculptor was Georges Malissard and the statue is a replica of another raised in Cassel, France. Foch, appointed Supreme Commander of the Allied Forces on the Western Front in the Spring of 1918, was widely seen as the architect of Germany's ultimate defeat and surrender in November 1918. Among many other honours, he was made an honorary Field marshal in the British Army, the only French military commander to receive such a distinction. Following Foch's death in March 1929, a campaign was launched to erect a statue in London in his memory. The Foch Memorial Committee chose Malissard as the sculptor, who produced a replica of his 1928 statue of Foch at Cassel. The statue was unveiled by the Prince of Wales on 5 June 1930. Designated a Grade II listed structure in 1958, the statue's status was raised to Grade II* in 2016.

Excerpt from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0. See the source article linked in Sources below.

Background

History

Ferdinand Foch (1851–1929) began his military career as an enlisted soldier in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. Gaining rapid promotion in the First World War, in March 1918 he was appointed Supreme Allied Commander of all the allied forces on the Western Front. The following months saw increasing allied success, and final German defeat, which Foch's great patron, the British Prime Minister David Lloyd George, among others, attributed primarily to Foch's strategic direction. In November 1918, Foch accepted the German surrender and signed the Armistice of 11 November 1918 on behalf of the Allied nations in a railway carriage in the Forest of Compiegne. Foch was the recipient of many French…

Architecture

The sculpture was designed by Georges Malissard and the plinth by the architect Paul Lebret. The cost was borne by the Government of France. Pevsner records the "dear little shell and pebbledash lodges". In 1958, the statue was designated a Grade II listed structure, a designation that was raised to Grade II* in 2016. The listing records the statue's historic and sculptural value, as well as its contribution to the overall setting of Grosvenor Gardens.

Sourced from Wikipedia under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Coordinates
51.4964, -0.1453
District
Westminster
Parish
Westminster, unparished area
Postcode
SW1W 0RP
Parliamentary constituency
Cities of London and Westminster
Established
1929
Nearest railway station
Victoria0.1 km

Sources

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Nearby

Other gardens from this era

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Frequently asked questions

Where is Foch?
Foch is in London, United Kingdom (postcode SW1W 0RP), in the parish of Westminster, unparished area.
When was Foch built?
Built or established in 1929.
How do I get to Foch?
The nearest railway station is Victoria, about 0.1 km away. Drivers can navigate to postcode SW1W 0RP.