Sandringham Gardens

Sandringham Gardens is a circular garden, positioned around a central fountain with a shallow pool with mosaic inlay, in the middle of Hyde Park.  Previously there had been a band rotunda here.  It was originally planned to redevelop the site to commemorate an expected visit by King George VI, Queen Elizabeth and Princess Margaret in 1951, which was cancelled due to the King’s illness.  When King George VI died in February 1952, the New South Wales cabinet renamed the site Sandringham Gardens as a memorial to him, commissioning decorative bronze patterned memorial gates set between the curved sandstone walls which surround the gardens.   The gates were designed by Lyndon Raymond Dadswell (1908-86).

The gates were erected as a joint memorial to King George V and King George VI.  The memorial was opened by the Queen during her visit to New South Wales on 5 February 1954.