Postman's Park

Postman's Park, www.wikipedia.org

A WELL-KEPT CITY SECRET 

This small memorial garden north of St. Paul's Cathedral in the City of London is a green spot I came upon by chance, after a visit to the Museum of London.


Unfortunately, I didn't bring a camera that day but I won't let that stop me because Postman's Park deserves the attention.


The semi-secret green enclosure, between King Edward's Street, Little Britain and Aldersgate Street, stands out as one of the few places in London that commemorates the heroic deeds of ordinary working-class Londoners, who would otherwise have been forgotten.

Postman's Park, Colin Wing, http://www.opensquares.org/ 

I admit that the small open space, formerly a lunch-break garden for the postmen at the General Post Office in one of the neighbouring streets, comes off as rather unspectacular: It is slightly elevated and lined with the usual benches and flower beds. But who needs pomp when you can have a calm private moment in the centre of the financial district?

MEMORIAL TO EVERYDAY HEROES

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, www.wikipedia.org 

The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, found in one corner of the park, is as unimposing as the park itself, but must not be overlooked. The structure, set up by the artist G.F. Watts, dates from 1900 and consists of around 50 beautifully decorated ceramic tablets hung within a simple open gallery. 

I wonder if the stranger and the foreigner were one and the same?, www.wikipedia.org

www.wikipedia.org

Some of the tiles are quite tragicomically worded but that in no way lessens the real tragedy, drama and necessity of the memorial. The tablets provide interesting glimpses into a different era and lend a melancholy quality to the tiny green space.

FIND OUT ABOUT...

Closest tube: St. Paul’s, Barbican, Moorgate

Postman's Park is open to the public from 8 am to 7 pm or dusk, whichever comes first.


Postman's Park


The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice