Statue set to return to Windsor Castle garden

A 19th Century bronze statue is set to return to a garden in Windsor Castle garden decades after it was removed.

The sculpture of Hercules and writhing serpent Achelous was removed from Kew Gardens, where it had stood since 1963, in the autumn.

Owned by the Royal Collection Trust, it was bought by George IV in 1829 and first installed in Windsor Castle's East Terrace Garden in 1909.

The project to move it back to the same garden which has recently been renovated to King Charles' designs, has been formally submitted to the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead.

The application states the statue's move is part of "a programme of improvements initiated by HM King Charles III to revitalise the East Terrace Garden".

Its existing locus flower fountain would be replaced with the Hercules statue.

Other work would include the reconstruction of the fountain and statue's bases, the replacement of the fountain's liner and the repointing of the fountain's surround.

The garden is periodically open to visitors during the summer months.

The sculpture was cast using recycled cannons at the request of George IV but its initial intended location is unknown. It originally stood on a plinth against the castle's north curtain wall.

The artwork, made in France, was photographed on Windsor Castle's North Terrace in 1860 but had probably been installed there by 1848.

In 1957, after the East Terrace Garden was remodelled, the statue was moved to Hampton Court Palace with the intention of it being displayed there.

But funds for that "were not forthcoming" and it remained in storage until it was put back on display at Kew Gardens six years later, according to the planning application.