Statue

Sanctuary - king on right - Henry III

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 right - Henry III

Subjects commemorated i

King Henry III

Ascended throne in 1216, aged 9.  Son of King John.  Resurrected the Magna Ca...

Read More

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - king on right - Henry III

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Imperial Hotel - statue 19

Imperial Hotel - statue 19

WC1, Russell Square

On this site there used to be a sister hotel to Hotel Russell, also designed by Charles Fitzroy Doll and erected in 1898. It was demolish...

1 creator
Dias statue

Dias statue

WC2, Trafalgar Square, South African High Commission

Dias rests his right hand on a cross which tops what appears to be a lighthouse. Behind his lower half the niche is carved with some sche...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Nelson's column

Nelson's column

WC2, Trafalgar Square

Erected to commemorate the Trafalgar victory over Napoleon of 1805. The height, from top of hat to pavement is said to be 170 feet and 2 ...

2 subjects commemorated, 8 creators
Gladstone statue - the Strand

Gladstone statue - the Strand

WC2, Strand

On each corner of the monument there is a sculpture of a seated woman (most with one or more children) representing (clockwise from front...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Catherine Booth statue - Mile End

Catherine Booth statue - Mile End

E1, Mile End Road

When we first visited in 2014 William's statue was looking very pale - showing its fibreglass material. In 2017 it had been re-bronzed an...

3 subjects commemorated, 3 creators