The 7 July Memorial is a permanent memorial to the 52 victims of the

7 July 2005 London bombings The 7 July 2005 London bombings, often referred to as 7/7, were a series of four coordinated suicide attacks carried out by Islamic terrorists in London that targeted commuters travelling on the city's public transport system during the mo ...

. It is located on the east side of

Hyde Park Hyde Park may refer to: Places England * Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London * Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds * Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield * Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester Austra ...

, between Lover's Walk and

Park Lane Park Lane is a dual carriageway road in the City of Westminster in Central London. It is part of the London Inner Ring Road and runs from Hyde Park Corner in the south to Marble Arch in the north. It separates Hyde Park to the west from May ...

, close to Curzon Gate and about north of the monumental statue of Achilles.

Design

The monument is made of 52

stainless steel Stainless steel is an alloy of iron that is resistant to rusting and corrosion. It contains at least 11% chromium and may contain elements such as carbon, other nonmetals and metals to obtain other desired properties. Stainless steel's corros ...

columns (or

stela A stele ( ),Anglicized plural steles ( ); Greek plural stelai ( ), from Greek , ''stēlē''. The Greek plural is written , ''stēlai'', but this is only rarely encountered in English. or occasionally stela (plural ''stelas'' or ''stelæ''), whe ...

e), each tall and weighing about . The stelae are grouped in four linked clusters that reflect the four locations of the bombings at

Tavistock Square Tavistock Square is a public square in Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden. History Tavistock Square was built shortly after 1806 by the property developer James Burton and the master builder Thomas Cubitt for Francis Russell, 5th Duke ...

Edgware Road Edgware Road is a major road in London, England. The route originated as part of Roman Watling Street and, unusually in London, it runs for 10 miles in an almost perfectly straight line. Forming part of the modern A5 road, Edgware Road undergoes ...

, King's Cross and

Aldgate East tube station Aldgate East is a London Underground station on Whitechapel Road, Whitechapel High Street in Whitechapel, in London, England. It takes its name from the City of London Wards of the City of London, ward of Aldgate, the station lying to the east ...

s. The columns are anonymous, but each is inscribed with the date, place and time of the relevant bombing; a separate plaque lists the names of those killed. The form of the memorial, with many standing columns, has been compared to the

Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe The Memorial to the Murdered Jews of Europe (german: Denkmal für die ermordeten Juden Europas), also known as the Holocaust Memorial (German: ''Holocaust-Mahnmal''), is a memorial in Berlin to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, designed by arc ...

in Berlin, and the New Zealand War Memorial at

Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the junc ...

. A grass bank to the east of the memorial shields the site from the noise of traffic on Park Lane. The proposal for a permanent memorial was announced on 13 February 2006, with £1 million of central government funding. The memorial was designed by a team including architects

Carmody Groarke Carmody is a surname of Irish origin. The name refers to: Persons *Alan Carmody (1920–1978), an Australian public servant *Art Carmody (born 1984), an American college football kicker *Bill Carmody (born 1951), an American college basketball coac ...

, engineers Arup, and landscape architects Colvin and Moggridge (see

Brenda Colvin Brenda Colvin CBE (1897–1981) was a British landscape architect, author of standard works in the field and a force behind its professionalisation. She was part of the Colvin family, which had long ties to the British Raj. Biography Colvin ...

), advised by sculptor

Antony Gormley Sir Antony Mark David Gormley (born 30 August 1950) is a British sculptor. His works include the ''Angel of the North'', a public sculpture in Gateshead in the north of England, commissioned in 1994 and erected in February 1998; ''Another Pla ...

, in consultation with representatives from the families of the victims, and also representatives from the

Royal Parks The Royal Parks of London are lands that were originally used for the recreation, mostly hunting, of the royal family. They are part of the hereditary possessions of The Crown, now managed by The Royal Parks Limited, a charity which manages ...

and the

Department for Culture, Media and Sport , type = Department , logo = Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport logo.svg , logo_width = , logo_caption = , seal = , seal_width = , seal_caption = , picture = Gove ...

. The steel was cast by Norton Cast Products of

Sheffield Sheffield is a city status in the United Kingdom, city in South Yorkshire, England, whose name derives from the River Sheaf which runs through it. The city serves as the administrative centre of the City of Sheffield. It is Historic counties o ...

. Each pillar was cast in sand using the same mould, but using an open

casting Casting is a manufacturing process in which a liquid material is usually poured into a mold, which contains a hollow cavity of the desired shape, and then allowed to solidify. The solidified part is also known as a ''casting'', which is ejected ...

process that means each is slightly different, with a rough surface texture. The proposed design was approved in November 2008, and the completed memorial was unveiled on the fourth anniversary of the attacks on 7 July 2009, at a ceremony attended by family members and relations of the victims and

Charles, Prince of Wales Charles III (Charles Philip Arthur George; born 14 November 1948) is King of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms. He was the longest-serving heir apparent and Prince of Wales and, at age 73, became the oldest person to ...

Camilla, Duchess of Cornwall Camilla (born Camilla Rosemary Shand, later Parker Bowles, 17 July 1947) is Queen Consort of the United Kingdom and the 14 other Commonwealth realms as the wife of King Charles III. She became queen consort on 8 September 2022, upon the acc ...

Prime Minister A prime minister, premier or chief of cabinet is the head of the cabinet and the leader of the ministers in the executive branch of government, often in a parliamentary or semi-presidential system. Under those systems, a prime minister is not ...

Gordon Brown James Gordon Brown (born 20 February 1951) is a British former politician who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Labour Party (UK), Leader of the Labour Party from 2007 to 2010. He previously served as Chance ...

, the

Mayor of London The mayor of London is the chief executive of the Greater London Authority. The role was created in 2000 after the 1998 Greater London Authority referendum, Greater London devolution referendum in 1998, and was the first Directly elected may ...

Boris Johnson Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson (; born 19 June 1964) is a British politician, writer and journalist who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom and Leader of the Conservative Party from 2019 to 2022. He previously served as F ...

, and other political leaders and representatives from the emergency services. The memorial was one of 102 structures given an award by the

Royal Institute of British Architects The Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) is a professional body for architects primarily in the United Kingdom, but also internationally, founded for the advancement of architecture under its royal charter granted in 1837, three suppl ...

in 2010.

Vandalism

The memorial was defaced with graffiti two weeks after its dedication ceremony in 2009, with words written on the memorial with a black

marker pen A marker pen, fine liner, marking pen, felt-tip pen, felt pen, flow marker, sign pen (in South Korea), vivid (in New Zealand), texta (in Australia), sketch pen (in South Asia) or koki (in South Africa), is a pen which has its own ink source a ...

. It was vandalised for a second time in 2014, on the morning of the ninth anniversary of the attacks. In the 2014 incident slogans such as "4 Innocent Muslims", "Blair Lied Thousands Died" and "J7 Truth" were stencilled in red and black on the memorial, and were removed shortly after being discovered by the park's manager. In June 2015, there were concerns that the site was being used by a group of

rough sleeper Homelessness or houselessness – also known as a state of being unhoused or unsheltered – is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and adequate housing. People can be categorized as homeless if they are: * living on the streets, also kn ...

s.7/7 bombing victims' memorial used as makeshift camp by rough sleepers in London's Hyde Park
London Evening Standard, 30 June 2015

Gallery

File:7_7_Hyde_Park_090712.jpg, Memorial in July 2009, five days after it was unveiled File:Plaque at 7-7-2005 bombings memorial, Hyde Park - geograph.org.uk - 1757634.jpg, Memorial plaque File:7th July Memorial 6 (3713347911).jpg, Floral tribute on a pillar File:Wording on stela of 7-7-2005 bombings memorial - geograph.org.uk - 1757654.jpg, Detail on a pillar

References

{{coord, 51.5059, -0.1528, format=dms, type:landmark, display=title Cultural infrastructure completed in 2009 Monuments and memorials in London Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster Buildings and structures in the City of Westminster July 2005 London bombings Hyde Park, London Buildings and structures in Hyde Park, London Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom