Cremorne Pleasure Gardens, Chelsea (1846-1877)

The Rise and Scandalous Fall of Chelsea’s Cremorne Gardens

If you wander down to the banks of the River Thames in Chelsea today, near the shadow of the old Lots Road Power Station, you’ll find a quiet, half-acre park called Cremorne Gardens. It’s a peaceful spot to watch the river. But if you could step back into the mid-19th century, this exact patch of land was the epicentre of London’s wildest, loudest, and most scandalous nightlife.  

Spanning twelve acres from the King’s Road down to the river, the original Cremorne Pleasure Gardens (1846–1877) was a Victorian wonderland where for just one shilling, anyone could escape the grim, smoky reality of industrial London.

'Girl with a Dolphin' by David Wynne

On the north bank of the River Thames, just east of Tower Bridge, there is a wonderful fountain of a girl swimming with a dolphin.

It is a stunning sculpture that has stood on this spot since 1973 and is passed by millions of visitors, each year. Because of its location, beside Tower Bridge, it offers some great photo opportunities.

This bronze sculpture is the work of David Wynne, who, throughout his career, focussed much of his work on animals. His most famous piece is 'Guy the Gorilla' in Crystal Palace Park.

David Wynne studied zoology at Cambridge University, but this just led him to become a sculptor.

In order to get this statue correct, David swam with a dolphin for hours, feeling that this more practical approach would make the sculpture more realistic.

His approach worked, as this bronze sculpture seems to have caught a moment in time. The young girl, with her hair trailing behind her, is swimming down, while the dolphin rises to meet her,

Because this is a bronze sculpture, David Wynne had to use double cantilevers to ensure that the weight of the bronze could be held, thereby ensuring 'Girl with a dolphin' would continue to swim, for years to come.

'Girl with a dolphin' has a twin. On Cheyne way, Chelsea, there is a similar statue named 'Boy with a dolphin'. It depicts a boy, modelled on David's son, Roly, holding on to the dolphin's fin as they swim through the water. 

This sculpture was unveiled in 1974..

Tragically, Roly took his own life in 1999, so his father dedicated the statue to Roly.

David Wynne died in 2014.