A bronze of a child and a dog now stands by the south-east gate of Archbishop's Park, Waterloo, paid for by the trust that has raised nearly £1.4m.

A bronze sculpture of a child holding a dog’s face has been unveiled in Archbishop’s Park, the park beside Lambeth Palace in Waterloo. It is called Best Friends, and the community trust that looks after the park paid for it to mark its 25th birthday (Lambeth Council).

The former Home Secretary Lord (David) Blunkett, who walks his dog in the park, unveiled it. The council announced it on Friday 23 October.

The park is on Carlisle Lane, SE1, nearly three miles north of Clapham Common.

The sculpture

  • Name: Best Friends
  • Artist: Tanya Russell, an animal sculptor
  • Material: foundry bronze on a granite plinth
  • Where: near the park’s south-east entrance
  • Paid for by: the Archbishop’s Park Community Trust

The council says the piece is meant to be “enjoyed up close”, and that it recognises “the many ways dogs enrich people’s lives” as well as the trust’s work in the park.

Who is behind it

The Archbishop’s Park Community Trust is a registered charity. Its purposes, as set out on the Charity Commission register, are to conserve and improve the park, to teach people about it, and to work with socially excluded people in Lambeth. For the year to August 2024 it reported four trustees and 80 volunteers.

Helen Lees, who chairs the trust, said that over 25 years it had “independently raised nearly £1.4 million in grants and volunteer contribution” for the park.

“We hope this sculpture will become a much-loved part of the park, a place where children, families, dog walkers and visitors can pause and connect,” she said.

Lord Blunkett is a guide dog owner. He said the sculpture was “one which is very close to my heart” and called the money raised for the park “a wonderful testament to self-help and pride in place”.

Councillor Natalie Kane, Lambeth’s deputy leader, thanked the trust “for funding such a wonderful addition to this already gorgeous park”.

The park

Archbishop’s Park was once part of the grounds of Lambeth Palace, the London home of the Archbishop of Canterbury. It opened as a public park in 1901 (Lambeth Council).

Today it has:

  • a large children’s playground
  • artificial grass pitches, cricket nets and tennis courts, all bookable
  • a community garden run by the Friends of Archbishop’s Park and volunteers
  • a Green Flag Award, and a “Park of the Year” award from London in Bloom

It is also a Site of Importance for Nature Conservation. The council lists it as open from 7.30am until 15 minutes before sunset.

What it means for you

The sculpture is free to see whenever the park is open. Head for the south-east corner. The nearest stations are Lambeth North and Waterloo; from Clapham, the Northern line runs from Clapham Common and Clapham North to Waterloo.

If you want to book a pitch or a tennis court, the council’s park page links to the booking systems. For more to do across the borough this week, see what’s on in Clapham.