Relief

Henry III granting charter to Westminster Abbey

Inscription

{Below the feet of the page at the left, Just outside our photo:}
Henry C. Fehr Sc.

This section is to the left of the entrance arch.  The description of "Henry III granting charter to Westminster Abbey" is ubiquitous on the web but we cannot discover what that charter was or its date.  At Knight Order we find that Henry granted a number of charters to Westminster Abbey, and there does not appear to be any one particularly important one.   

To the right there is another kneeling page presenting a near-identical bishop with a flask on a cushion.  None of the sources that we have found explain this right-hand section. Possibly it was part of the ceremony of the granting of a charter.

Site: Middlesex Guildhall - exterior (3 memorials)

SW1, Little George Street, Supreme Court

At one time this was the site of nearby Westminster Abbey's Sanctuary Tower and Belfry.

This building was designed by James S. Gibson and Partners and built 1906-1913, in what Pevsner described as art nouveau Gothic.  Originally designed to be the Middlesex Guildhall as offices and to house the quarter sessions, it was converted to a crown court in 1964 and then in 2009 to the Supreme Court.  

We were puzzled why the Middlesex Guildhall should be in Westminster.  It's complicated but here goes ...  All of London, with the exception of the City of London, was part of Middlesex until 1889 when the County of London was formed.  The building on this site at that time was effectively the Westminster Guildhall.  And there was a building in Clerkenwell, the Middlesex Sessions House.  The two buildings were "swapped" so that the one in Westminster could be used by Middlesex and the one in Clerkenwell could be used by London.  This may not be the whole story but we think that is the gist of it.

 Ornamental Passions gives an excellent description of the whole frieze with large pictures. Waymarking also has some good photos.

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Henry III granting charter to Westminster Abbey

Subjects commemorated i

Westminster Abbey

Officially, The Collegiate Church of St Peter at Westminster. According to tr...

Read More

King Henry III

Ascended throne in 1216, aged 9.  Son of King John.  Resurrected the Magna Ca...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Henry III granting charter to Westminster Abbey

Created by i

Henry Charles Fehr

Sculptor.  Born Forest Hill into a family of Swiss origin.  Died London.  Oth...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Henry III granting charter to Westminster Abbey

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Beaufoy Institute - relief

Beaufoy Institute - relief

SE11, Black Prince Road, 39

The cartouches are on the two gables on the front elevation. Speel informs that the relief and the plain inscribed stone were moved here ...

1 creator
Stuart House - James I arrives in London

Stuart House - James I arrives in London

SW3, Cadogan Square, Stuart House, 84

This Queen Anne style house was designed in 1880 by architect F.G. Knight for Oscar Leslie Stephen, a director of the Great Northern Rail...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Queen Anne's Bounty

Queen Anne's Bounty

SW1, Great Smith Street

Queen Anne's Bounty Office operated from this site 1734 - 1947. Westminster’s Conservation Area Audit informs that this is actually the b...

2 subjects commemorated
CI - 5 - Drapers

CI - 5 - Drapers

EC3, Cornhill, 32

The carved doors are at the right of the building, behind the cyclist in our picture.  According to Esoteric London these panels, listed ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Animals War Memorial Dispensary - bronze frieze

Animals War Memorial Dispensary - bronze frieze

NW6, Cambridge Avenue, 10

This bronze frieze shows a winged Victory holding wreaths and flanked by camels, mules, bullocks, horses, elephants, dogs and pigeons, al...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Improved Industrial Dwellings Co Ltd
3 memorials
Crystal Palace fatal accident

Crystal Palace fatal accident

SE26, Westwood Hill, St Bartholomew's Churchyard

The board refers to "New Sydenham Church". Designed by Lewis Vulliamy, St Bartholomew's was constructed 1827-32.

3 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
7 - Wine Office Court – Dickens

7 - Wine Office Court – Dickens

EC4, Fleet Street

There are 8 Courts running off the north side of this section of Fleet Street and on the ground at the entrance to each Court is a plaque...

3 subjects commemorated
R.H. Tawney

R.H. Tawney

Born Calcutta, India. Died in a nursing home in Fitzroy Square. Economic/social historian, Christian socialist and founding father of the welfare state.

Person, Economist, History, India

2 memorials
Thomas de Quincey

Thomas de Quincey

Born Manchester. Author, best known for "Confessions of an English Opium-Eater" (1821). Was as addicted to books as much as to drink or opium, sometimes renting an extra lodging (which he could not...

Person, Journalism / Publishing, Literature, Scotland

1 memorial