Lady Diana Memorial

The Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain in Hyde Park opened in 2004 and was designed by the landscape architect Kathryn Gustafson, whose winning idea was not a statue but a great oval stream that visitors could approach, touch and sit beside. It was built from around 600 tonnes of De Lank granite, cut into 545 separate pieces. De Lank stone was chosen for its light silver-grey colour, which catches and brightens the moving water as it runs around the ring. The granite was shaped by computer controlled machinery to a different profile at almost every point, so the water bubbles, cascades and falls still along its length, then assembled by hand using traditional masonry skills. It remains one of the most touched and best loved public memorials in London.