Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens

by Stephanie Chatfield

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In 1912, author J.M. Barrie commissioned renowned sculptor Sir George Frampton to create a statue of Peter Pan. Barrie, who lived nearby at 100 Bayswater Road, was inspired by the children he met in Kensington Gardens, particularly the Llewelyn Davies boys, who became the muse for his tales of Peter Pan. He chose the exact spot in the gardens where Peter lands his bird-nest boat in his 1902 book, The Little White Bird, to place the statue.

Barrie funded the project himself and had the statue installed overnight without fanfare, aiming to enchant children into believing that fairies had placed it there .

Frampton’s statue rises about 14 feet tall, showing a life-sized Peter Pan perched on a tree stump, playing his pan pipes. Around the base, delicate figures of fairies, rabbits, squirrels, and mice weave a scene straight from the magic of Neverland.

Kensington Gardens is one of London’s most beautiful and historic royal parks. It spans about 265 acres and sits immediately to the west of Hyde Park — in fact, they used to be one big park until Queen Caroline (wife of King George II) divided them in the early 18th century.

Originally part of Hyde Park’s hunting grounds, Kensington Gardens became more formal and elegant after Queen Caroline transformed it with ornamental landscaping, tree-lined avenues, and the creation of the Long Water, a beautiful artificial lake.

Barrie moved into 100 Bayswater Road around 1901. From his windows, he could see straight into the park. This connection between his home and the gardens made its way into his writing: parts of The Little White Bird (which first introduced Peter Pan) describe actual spots in Kensington Gardens where he spent time.

After having the statue installed quietly, Barrie put an ad in The Times, “There is a surprise in store for the children who go to Kensington Gardens to feed the ducks in the Serpentine this morning. Down by the little bay on the south-western side of the tail of the Serpentine they will find a May-day gift by Mr J.M. Barrie, a figure of Peter Pan blowing his pipe on the stump of a tree, with fairies and mice and squirrels all around. It is the work of Sir George Frampton, and the bronze figure of the boy who would never grow up is delightfully conceived.”

The children exploring Kensington Gardens in 1912 must have been delighted by the whimsical statue’s seemingly sudden appearance. Over a century later, it continues to charm visitors from all over the world.

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