Old
Father Thames
There
are two statues of Old Father Thames in the area. This statue
is in the Terrace gardens, Richmond which opened in 1877 . The
statue was sculpted by John Bacon (1740-1799) and is made of Coade
stone. A favourite of King George III, Bacon's work can be seen
at St Paul's Cathedral, London, Christ Church and Pembroke College,
Oxford, Bath Abbey and Bristol cathedral. His best works are considered
to be in Westminster Abbey.
The
Thames is the lifeblood of Arcadia, and here Father Thames is
shown as a God in the neo- classical style, the water pouring
from his amphora. |
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“My eye,
descending from the hill, surveys,
Where Thames among the wanton valleys strays;
Thames, the most loved of all the ocean’s sons;
By his old sire, to his embraces runs,
Hasting to pay his tribute to the sea,
Like mortal life to meet eternity.”
(From “The Thames” by Sir John Denham, 1615 – 1668)
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