Speke Monument

Speke Monument
Artist	Philip Hardwick
Completion date	1864
Subject	John Hanning Speke
Location	London
Coordinates	51°30′32″N0°10′45″W / 51.5090°N 0.1791°W / 51.5090; -0.1791
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	Speke's Monument
Designated	14 January 1970
Reference no.	1216828

The Speke Monument is a Grade II listed monument in the form of a granite obelisk in Kensington Gardens. ^[1] It commemorates John Hanning Speke who is often credited with discovering Lake Victoria and the Source of the Nile.

Speke would make several expeditions into the African interior under the Royal Geographical Society, including those which would see him make his most famous discoveries. He would die in an accident while hunting. ^[2]

The monument is a granite obelisk that stands next to the intersection of Budge's Walk and Lancaster Walk in Kensington Gardens. The monument was designed by Philip Hardwick with sponsorship from Roderick Murchison, then president of the Royal Geographical Society. ^[3]

References

1. "Speke's Monument, Non Civil Parish – 1216828 | Historic England". historicengland.org.uk. Retrieved 26 December 2025.
2. Baker, Margaret (2002). Discovering London statues and monuments. Discovering series (5. ed., revised and updated ed.). Princes Risborough: Shire Publications. pp. 79–80. ISBN   978-0-7478-0495-6.
3. Matthews, Peter (2012). London's statues and monuments. Shire Library. Oxford: Shire Publications. pp. 134–135. ISBN   978-0-7478-0798-8.

External links

• Media related to Speke’s Monument at Wikimedia Commons