Bust

Sanctuary - head on right - Albert

Erection date: 1854

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 - head on right - Albert

Subjects commemorated i

Prince Albert

Born Schloss Rosenau, Coburg, Germany, as Albert Francis Augustus Charles Ema...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Sanctuary - head on right - Albert

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Shakespeare bust - EC1

Shakespeare bust - EC1

EC1, Goswell Road, Golden Lane Estate, Crescent House

We can find no information about this bust.

1 subject commemorated
Wimbledon Library - Shakespeare

Wimbledon Library - Shakespeare

SW19, Wimbledon Hill Road, Wimbledon Library

Shakespeare to the left, Milton to the right.

1 subject commemorated
RIPWC - Hunt

RIPWC - Hunt

W1, Piccadilly, 192-196

The building by E. R. Robson was erected for the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, founded in 1831 (the crest in the centre of...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Morley mosaics - KEW - Natalie Bell

Morley mosaics - KEW - Natalie Bell

SE1, King Edward Walk, Morley College

These 10 portrait mosaics are the result of a project by Morley College to celebrate the achievements of significant women who have lived...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
Caxton Hall - head 1 - Milton

Caxton Hall - head 1 - Milton

SW1, Caxton Street, 10, Caxton Hall

But look at head 8 too, that's also a candidate for Milton.

1 subject commemorated