Princess Diana Memorial Fountain

By Andrew Burrett of Lotus Watergardens

Whilst travelling in the UK recently I came across the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain.  It is a memorial to Diana, Princess of Wales. It was designed to express Diana's spirit and love of children. It is located in the southwest corner of Hyde Park in London, just south of the Serpentine Lake and east of the Serpentine Gallery. Its cornerstone was laid in September 2003 and it was officially opened on 6 July 2004 by Queen Elizabeth II.

 

 

It is a great example of how changing not only water depth and width but also the texture of the surface it runs over create both visual effects and a wonderful sound.

The 545 individual pieces of Cornish granite were cut using sophisticated computer-guided cutting machines by S. McConnell & Sons inKilkeel, Northern Ireland.

Although described as an oval stone fountain, it has the form of a large, oval stream bed about 50 by 80 m (165 by 260 feet) that surrounds, and is surrounded by, a lush grassy field. The granite streambed is from 3 to 6 m (10 to 20 feet) wide and quite shallow and is laid out on a gently sloping portion of the park, so that water pumped to the top of the oval flows down either side. One side of the stream bed descends fairly smoothly to the downhill end of the oval with gentle ripples. The other side consists of a variety of steps, rills, curves, and other shapes so that the water plays in interesting ways as it flows to the tranquil pool at the bottom. The two sides were intended to show the two sides of Diana's life, both happy times and turmoil.(wikipedia).