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

Frieze of Parnassus - Scott

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Edith Garrud - steel statue

Edith Garrud - steel statue

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There are two plaques on the blue bench behind the statues: Plaque 1: The characters for this Portrait Bench chosen by your community ce...

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St Saviour's war memorial

St Saviour's war memorial

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The bronze statue on the plinth is of an infantryman tramping through mud. The front of the plinth shows a soldier in classical costume a...

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Queen Victoria statue on Caxton Hall

Queen Victoria statue on Caxton Hall

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The foundation stone is low down at the right hand side of the building. Above each of the two statues is a bust, both of the Greek god v...

1 subject commemorated
Public Record Office - Queen Anne

Public Record Office - Queen Anne

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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

Previously viewed

Burlington House courtyard  - Joshua Reynolds

Burlington House courtyard - Joshua Reynolds

W1, Piccadilly, Royal Academy

This building is commonly known as the Royal Academy (of Arts). The wings of the building are occupied by a number of learned societies, ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Sir Alan Cobham

Sir Alan Cobham

Aviator. Born Alan John Cobham in Camberwell. He joined the Royal Flying Corps in World War I, and went on to become the first test pilot for the de Havilland Aeroplane Hire Service. In 1932 he sta...

Person, Aviation, Caribbean Islands

1 memorial
Meetal Patel

Meetal Patel

SE1, London Road, 14

Erected between May 2019 when Google Streetview does not show it and our visit (Sept 2020). Note the look-alike English Heritage logo - ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator