Atlas Statue - Wrest Park, Silsoe, Bedfordshire, UK - Atlas Statues on Waymarking.com

Located near the Round Pond this area is undergoing restoration within the large estate of Wrest Park. At present Atlas stands in a grassed area between the woods on the east side of the parkland.

Atlas is on a plinth and holds the world on his shoulders. He is clothed only in an old cloth and is naked apart from this. He has a rather unusual hole in his belly which has worn away over the years.

The gardens were re-landscaped by Capability Brown; Wikipedia describes them: visit link

'In the Great Garden, water catches the eye in every direction while intersecting alleys provide splendid vistas of the many garden buildings and ornaments. The park's centrepiece is an example of French parterres divided by a wide gravel central walk, continued as a long canal that leads to a very fine free-standing domed pavilion (originally called the Banqueting House) designed in full Baroque style by Thomas Archer in 1709 and completed in 1711 costing £1,809 (decorated inside by Louis Hauduroy in 1712). Also Archer built between 1710 and 1717 at a cost of £1,259 the Hill House (now demolished) on the summit of the adjacent Cain Hill to which Henry Grey's family used to ride for breakfast. Later the boundary canals were altered to take the more natural shape by Capability Brown who worked here between 1758-60. The surveyor John Rocque made a map of the gardens and garden houses at Wrest, 1735, dedicated to Duke Henry. The central formal area was retained instead of being swept away when it was ringed by a canal and woodland planned by Brown. During the later 18th and 19th centuries, the Bath House (designed by Edward Stevens or Thomas Wright, 1770), and marble fountains were added. The huge Orangery was built by Earl de Grey.

From 1906 to 1911 Wrest Park was leased to the American Ambassador, Whitelaw Reid, during which time a number of important visitors came there: King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra were guests on Saturday 24 July 1909 attending the Silsoe Church service the following day and the former US president Theodore Roosevelt visited the Park in May 1910.

The estate at Wrest is the oldest lay estate in Bedfordshire. Wrest Park Gardens are now in the care of English Heritage.'

Construction Material: Stone Is this Atlas?: yes

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Date Logged Log User Rating   09/25/2010 bill&ben visited it