Now it's Marvel Arch

Nearly two centuries of grime and traffic have inevitably taken their toll on one of London's most famous landmarks. Not to mention the pigeons. But today, following a £75,000 restoration project, Marble Arch is once again revealed in all its original splendour.

The arch, commissioned by George IV to commemorate Great Britain's victories over Napoleon, has been fully restored to its former glory by English Heritage.

Skilful cleaning has left the Italian marble gleaming white, teams of stonemasons have painstakingly repaired chips and cracks, and the imposing bronze gates have been buffed to a dazzling shine.

Even the lanterns that illuminate the three arches have been restored to working order and their crowns painted a regal red and black.

The restoration work was carried out over the past four months under the eye of English Heritage's conservation chief, Christopher Cooke. He said: "The biggest problem was the filth - a combination of road pollution and pigeon guano.

"It was not really damaged - it just needed that extra bit of loving care to bring it back to its former glory."

Marble Arch was designed by John Nash in 1828 and built as the main entrance to Buckingham Palace.

But after the palace was extended in 1851, Queen Victoria had it moved block-by-block to its present site a mile-and-a-half away.

Nash modelled his 45-foot-high monument on both the Constantine Arch in Rome and - in a snub to the auld enemy - Napoleon's own victory monument in Paris, the Arc de Triomphe.

After its move to the opposite end of Park Lane it replaced Cumberland Gate as the northern entrance to Hyde Park.

Made of white Carrara marble (costing £80,000 at the time), Marble Arch was originally intended to have a bronze equestrian statue of George IV placed on top of the arch but it was never mounted and ended up in Trafalgar Square instead.

The reliefs in the monument's square panels on the north side show three female figures representing England, Scotland and Ireland, and another group depicting Peace and Plenty.

The ones on the south side show a naval warrior with a figure of Justice and another group depicting Peace and Plenty, while the bronze gates - the largest in Europe when they were made - show the lion of England, the cypher of George IV and the figure of St George and the Dragon.

The arch is at the axis of two great Roman roads, one linking Colchester to the West Country, the other - Watling Street (now Edgware Road) - linking London to St Albans. For 600 years this crossroads was known as Tyburn, a name notorious for its gallows.

The gateway is now only used by royal processions or by the Royal Horse Artillery on their ceremonial route to Hyde Park, although an exception was made last November when it became the starting point of the victorious England rugby team's World Cup winners' parade along Oxford Street.