Statue: Temple Bar - Victoria
Erection date: 1880
The south side is the most weathered and sullied by traffic fumes which explains the poor condition of the marble statue of Queen Victoria in state robes holding golden sceptre and orb and wearing a gold crown. Carved in the stone above the statue is a crown, and below in a cartouche is "VR". Pilasters each side are decorated with emblems of "science" to the left and "art" to the right. These emblems are identical to those around the Prince of Wales with the exception that where he has a small bust of Homer, she has Chaucer.
Site: Temple Bar Memorial (7 memorials)
EC4, Fleet Street
This is the site of the 17th century Temple Bar entrance to the City of London. Having become an obstruction to circulation it was removed in 1879 and this monument unveiled in 1881, as a memorial to the old Temple Bar and as a marker for the entrance to the City at the point where it was traditional for the Lord Mayor to welcome royal visitors to the City.
This is a typically overwrought late Victorian edifice, topped with a giant griffin (or dragon; there are competing definitions of the differences) by Charles Birch. The north and south sides hold large statues of Queen Victoria and, the soon to be, Edward VII. To east and west are medallion portraits of the Lord Mayor at the time, Sir Francis Wyatt Truscott, and the late Prince Albert Victor, the King we never had. At the bottom of the west face gilt lettering carved into the granite base announces "City of London". Each side holds a bronze relief plaque, one of which states that the monument is aligned exactly with the west side the old Temple Bar and specifies the north-south displacement - a good example of Victorian flamboyance married to technical confidence. We have treated many of these features as separate memorials and give more details of each one on its own page.
Go to map of other memorials in this area
