Postman’s Park Wall Art Print

Postman’s Park Art Print

A high-quality, giclée print on archival quality Hahnemühle German Etching paper (310gsm).

All prints are made to order unless otherwise stated and will be shipped within 2 business days of ordering.

Postman’s Park located in the City of London is a beautiful space enclosed and easily missed amongst the tall buildings of London’s business district. Its name comes from the fact that the first General Post Office, the UK’s first purpose built post office, was located nearby and postmen used to take their lunch break in this lovely quiet spot.

This secret park offers many benches and a fountain to enjoy the beauty and peace in the middle of a busy city. The space used to be a churchyard and burial ground, which is marked by several layers of gravestones of all sizes dating back a long time at the edges of the park.

The park also hosts the Watts Memorial, aka ‘The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice’, which is a wall of tiles commemorating 52 ordinary people who had given their lives to save others’ – not dissimilar to our NHS heroes during our pandemic. The memorial states G. F. Watts’ quote next to it: “The material prosperity of a nation is not an abiding possession; the deeds of its people are.” The stories that the tiles reveal are heart-breaking and speak of a strong sense of community and compassion.

In Victorian times ordinary flowers had meanings. In the Victorian art of floriography the bluebell represented humility and symbolised one’s unwavering devotion to their love. Tulips represented deep love, but as one of the early flowers of spring they also meant ‘rebirth’ – showing a sense of hope. And forget-me-nots were ‘the key to my heart’.

The Watts Memorial was first proposed by George Frederic Watts, an artist in 1887 as a suggestion to commemorate the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria. Although it was turned down in the first place, in just over a decade later in 1898 Watts was approached by Henry Gamble, vicar of St Botolph’s Aldersgate church to pursue Watts’s idea in the churchyard in the hope of it helping secure the churchyard’s future.

The Postman’s Park art print is one of a series of illustrations about lesser known parks in London.