Bust

Sanctuary - head on left - Victoria

Erection date: 1854

Site: Westminster Sanctuary (4 memorials)

SW1, Broad Sanctuary, The Sanctuary, 1-8 Broad Sanctuary

The building is Grade II listed, a terrace of Bath stone buildings incorporating gateway to Dean's Yard. 1853-54 by Sir George Gilbert Scott. Some sources say these were built as houses which seems unlikely but they are certainly now used as offices.

Niches in the turrets, at first floor, house two very similar statues. The spandrels of the gateway are decorated with two roundels with portrait heads, one of which is crowned. These all seem to represent particular individuals but we can find no information, so we have to guess.

The statues are crowned and each clutches a model building, with slightly different fenestration. So we think they are the two kings central to the creation of Westminster Abbey: Edward the Confessor who, in 1042-52, (re)built St Peter's Abbey here, and Henry III who, in 1245, began the building of the current Abbey. Comparative beard lengths seem to corroborate our theory.

And the two heads must represent Victoria and Albert: the female wears a crown and the male doesn't, the date of the building, they even look like some of their portraits.

The memorial column in our photo is covered on its own page: Westminster School - old boys.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - head on left - Victoria

Subjects commemorated i

Queen Victoria

Reigned: 1837-1901, 64 years. Born Kensington Palace. Daughter of Edward, Duk...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - head on left - Victoria

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Greenwich roundels - Sandwich

Greenwich roundels - Sandwich

SE10, King William Walk, Discover Greenwich (Royal Naval College, Pepys Building)

The roundels on the north, river-facing, frontage are occupied by, left to right: Anson, Drake, Cook, Howard, Blake, Benbow, Sandwich, Ro...

1 subject commemorated
Morley mosaics - WBR - Caroline Martineau

Morley mosaics - WBR - Caroline Martineau

SE1, Westminster Bridge Road, Morley College

Left to right: Cons, Martineau, Hubback, Baylis. In our photo the pedestrian has just walked past Baylis. These mosaics are on the Maufe...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Lenin - Holford Gardens - bust

Lenin - Holford Gardens - bust

WC1, Holford Gardens, Bevin Court

This memorial was given to the people of Finsbury by the Russian Embassy in London and unveiled on Lenin's birthday. We understand that i...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
National Portrait Gallery - Clarendon

National Portrait Gallery - Clarendon

WC2, Charing Cross Road

This building, 1896, designed by Ewan Christian, has 18 busts contained in medallions around the top of the facades. Starting at the east...

1 subject commemorated
Shakespeare bust - Wyndham's

Shakespeare bust - Wyndham's

WC2, Charing Cross Road, Wyndham's Theatre

This bust, high up in the pediment, is supported on each side by a muse, in the usual flimsy garb.

1 subject commemorated

Previously viewed

Edgar Allan Poe - N16  - Bust

Edgar Allan Poe - N16 - Bust

N16, Stoke Newington Church Street, 172

Here is a  video of the unveiling.

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
World's first cash machine - 1992

World's first cash machine - 1992

EN2, The Town, 20, Barclays Bank

This quality plaque. the first to be erected on the site, was subsequently stolen in February 2010. We got there too late so must thank G...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators