Named after the white marble arch designed by John Nash.
Nash designed it in 1827 as the state entrance to Buckingham Palace, and it was faced with Carrara marble, which soon lost its whiteness in London's smoky air. When the palace was enlarged, the arch was taken down in 1847 and rebuilt at the north-east corner of Hyde Park, a job completed in 1851. It gives its name to the area around it, the southern end of Edgware Road and the station.