Notable Landmarks · London, Greater London
Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain ('Eros')
London's classic lovers' meeting point — 'meet me under Eros' — though the statue is actually Anteros, the god of mature, requited love, chosen to commemorate the philanthropist Lord Shaftesbury (Gilbert called Eros/Cupid 'the frivolous tyrant').
The place
Aluminium winged statue by Sir Alfred Gilbert — the first London statue to be cast in aluminium (cast by George Broad & Son at the Hammersmith foundry). It depicts ANTEROS, god of selfless/requited love, NOT Eros; the model was Gilbert's 15-year-old Anglo-Italian studio assistant Angelo Colarossi (1875–1949).
More stories at this spot
- Adopted as the capital's romantic rendezvous point through the 20th century; on unveiling day, eight drinking cups were chained to the fountain and only two survived the first night.
Sources
Nearby on the map
The Soho supper club where showgirls in feathers were forbidden to move — and where the teenage Christine Keeler and Mandy Rice-Davies met Stephen Ward, the introduction that set the Profumo affair in motion. Discretion was the house rule; history had other plans.
Documented historyRoyal LiaisonNell Gwyn's house, 79 Pall MallLondon, Greater London · EnglandThe house Charles II gave his best-loved mistress — the orange-seller turned actress Nell Gwyn — and the only freehold on the south side of Pall Mall not owned by the Crown, because Nell reputedly refused to live in a house she did not own. John Evelyn's diary records the King chatting to 'Mrs Nelly' over her garden wall in 1671.
Documented historyNotable LandmarksMarquis de Mayfair — Original Launch BoutiqueLondon, Greater London · EnglandThe launch of the Marquis de Mayfair brand, a boutique off Bond Street on Old Burlington Street, Mayfair.
Documented historySpotted an error, or hold a better source? Write to marquis@marquisdemayfair.com — corrections are made, never defended. Our methodology.