Monument to George Gordon, Lord Byron as it is now [Heritage of London Trust (Holt)]

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THE national monument to Lord Byron with a statue of the great poet alongside his trusty dog, was inspired by one of his contemplative lines: To sit on rocks and muse o’er flood and fell.

For several decades now the revered Romantic era writer has been left to sit and ponder little more than West End noise and pollution.

Changes to the park’s boundaries left it isolated and effectively inaccessible to the public on a traffic island in Park Lane.

But the Byron Society has been celebrating this week after a massive heritage grant was approved to “rescue” the statue to a prominent public location inside Hyde Park, near the Victoria Gate.

President of the Byron Society, the current Lord Byron, said: “We are absolutely thrilled and immensely grateful to have received this support from The National Lottery Heritage Fund and all lottery players who are helping us rescue Byron and put him back to where he can be appreciated.”

Originally “erected by public subscription” in Hamilton Gardens in 1880, the statue became sectioned off from the park after traffic layout changes transformed Park Lane in 1960.

It was left “marooned on a traffic island and all but inaccessible”, the Byron Society said.

Lord Byron has added that the statue is in urgent need of restoration, describing the new location as an “excellent site”, adding: “This will give much greater prominence to Lord Byron.”

In a campaign material, Byron Society, author Tom Holland urged: “Set Byron free!”

The statue as it is envisaged [Byron Society]

Poet laureate Simon Armitage and actor Pip Torrens are among others to back the move of the statue. Mr Armitage said: “No more directing traffic on a London roundabout, let’s get him out in the park.”

A statement from the Byron Society added: “It has been waiting for a long time to be restored and relocated. This has now become a matter of urgency because it has deteriorated badly over the last 50 years and there is no maintenance regime where the statue is at present. Following a long campaign and much lobbying, the Royal Parks have offered us a new high profile location near Hyde Park’s Victoria Gate that is publicly accessible so we can all enjoy it.”

The Heritage of London Trust (Holt) said it was “celebrating a win”, and added: “The long campaign to raise funds for its relocation to Hyde Park has succeeded with £230k lottery funding.”

Holt has also supported the project with a grant, while the Proud Places group worked with hundreds of children in the project in nearby schools.

The statue is by sculptor Richard Claude Belt and sits on a Rosso Antico red and white marble pedestal that was a gift from the Greek government. Byron (1788-1824) had been a big supporter of their struggle for independence and became one of their national heroes. It features Byron with his beloved Newfoundland dog Boatswain (Bo’sun).

The statue project was initially going to be funded by private donors, but the British government led by the former Conservative prime minister Benjamin Disraeli had decided there should be “a really national memorial”.

Prominent Victorian writers including Tennyson, Longfellow, Wilkie Collins, Swinburne, and Matthew Arnold all backed the campaign for the national monument, with the quote from Byron’s Childe Harold’s Pilgrimage the inspiration.