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

Colonial Office - S03 - Liverpool

Colonial Office - S03 - Liverpool

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
James Greathead statue

James Greathead statue

EC3, Cornhill

Note that part of the Greathead shield used in digging the tunnels at Bank Station was left in situ.

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Queen Victoria as Peace

Queen Victoria as Peace

N20, Barnet Lane, Friary Park

An information panel was erected in front of the statue by the Mayor of Barnet on 18 June 2016. It tells the story of the Park and the st...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Bradley Stone

Bradley Stone

E16, Caxton Street North, Peacock Gymnasium

Sculpted by Ann Downey.

1 subject commemorated
Whittington statue - EC3

Whittington statue - EC3

EC3, Threadneedle Street

Statue on the right. Ornamental Passions has some information. Felbridge History gives a 'Joseph Carew' as the sculptor of another statu...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

13 Croydon - Christopher Wren

13 Croydon - Christopher Wren

CR9, Katharine Street, Croydon Public Library

Built in 1892 by Charles Henman Jr. this heavily decorated group of buildings makes up Croydon's Municipal buildings complex. The buildin...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Thomas Campbell

Thomas Campbell

SW1, Victoria Square, 8

Thomas Campbell, poet, born 1777, died 1844, lived here 1840-4.

1 subject commemorated
F. Weaver

F. Weaver

Employed at the Streatham bus garage. Served and was killed in WW1.

Person, Armed Forces

War dead, WW1
1 memorial
Godfrey Maule Nicholson

Godfrey Maule Nicholson

Entry in The Peerage. Son of the distiller William Nicholson. For more information about this hero click on the picture of the distillery plaque.

Person, Tragedy

1 memorial