BRITAIN: Marble Arch, a 13.71 metre high (45 ft) monument built to commemorate Britain's victory over Napoleon, could be on the move again after spending years as little more than a glorified traffic island in London.
Originally built in front of Buckingham Palace, it was moved in 1851 to the site of the long-demolished Tyburn gallows at the end of busy Oxford Street.
Now it might be rescued from the traffic and moved about 91 metres (100 yards) to form a grand entrance to Hyde Park, the one-time royal hunting ground which now covers 140 hectares (350 acres) in the centre of the capital.
"We are looking at a better position for the arch," said a spokesman for Transport for London, the capital's body responsible for the partial pedestrianisation of Trafalgar Square in 2003.
English Heritage, the British government agency that owns Marble Arch, said it was also keen to showcase the monument, which was built of white Carrara marble in 1827 along the lines of the triumphal arch of the Roman Emperor Constantine. - (Reuters)