Statue

Sanctuary - king on left - Edward the Confessor

Erection date: 1854

Have we correctly identified this king?

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.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - king on left - Edward the Confessor

Subjects commemorated i

Edward the Confessor

King of England. Son of Ethelred the Unready. Born between 1003 and 1005 at I...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - king on left - Edward the Confessor

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Public Record Office - Victoria

Public Record Office - Victoria

WC2, Chancery Lane, Maughan Library of King's College, ex-PRO

The first buildings to occupy this site were built in 1232 by Henry III.  The building was known as the Domus Conversorum (the House of C...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Teddy Baldock - statue

Teddy Baldock - statue

E14, Bright Street, Langdon Park DLR Station

Facebook page shows the unveiling.  Langdon Park School, the buildings just to the south of the statue, is built on the site of Baldock's...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Plumber's Apprentice statue

Plumber's Apprentice statue

EC4, Cannon Street Station, Cannon Street Station

This 7 foot statue was unveiled to mark the completion of the Cannon Street Station renovation and the 400th anniversary of the granting ...

2 subjects commemorated, 7 creators
Kaled

Kaled

EC4, Fleet Street, 193

Sculpted in 1872-3. Stone, painted white. About 1.4m high. This statue represents Kaled, a character from Byron's narrative poem, Lara. K...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
George II statue at Greenwich

George II statue at Greenwich

SE10, Old Royal Naval College, Grand Square

This statue is made of a single piece of marble weighing 11 tons. As was the fashion at the time the king is depicted wearing the militar...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators