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.

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 - 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...

Read More

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

Cordwainer statue

Cordwainer statue

EC4, Watling Street

Originally erected in the courtyard of St Mary le Bow church but it was moved here after a few years.  Prompted by this statue London Det...

1 subject commemorated, 14 creators
Brunel statue - Paddington

Brunel statue - Paddington

W2, Departure Road, Paddington Station

This belongs to the select group of seated London statues - see Peabody. The same sculptor has a standing statue of Brunel in Bristol, a...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Burlington House - Wren

Burlington House - Wren

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, 1 creator
Frieze of Parnassus - Murillo

Frieze of Parnassus - Murillo

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
George Peabody statue

George Peabody statue

EC4, Royal Exchange Buildings

Unveiled by the then Prince of Wales, unusually in the subject's lifetime. Too ill to attend the ceremony Peabody died 3 months later. At...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Flight Lieutenant Alan Jerrard, VC

Flight Lieutenant Alan Jerrard, VC

Aviator. Born at 13 Vicar's Hill, Lewisham. In WW1 he was a lieutenant in No. 66 Squadron of the Royal Flying Corps. On 30 March 1918 near Mansuè, Italy, he and two other officers, shot down one of...

Person, Armed Forces, Italy

War served, WW1
1 memorial
W. E. Wright

W. E. Wright

Co-partner or employee of the South Suburban Gas Company. Served but did not die in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War served, WW1
1 memorial