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

King Edward VII statue - NW3

King Edward VII statue - NW3

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A 1908 article in the New York Times nicely describes the king as being in "infinite toggery" and suggests the statue was unveiled in lat...

1 subject commemorated
Frieze of Parnassus - Michelangelo - painter

Frieze of Parnassus - Michelangelo - painter

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
Kindertransport - Meisler

Kindertransport - Meisler

EC2, Liverpool Street , Hope Square, Liverpool Street Station

Such a sad and touching subject, these children can't fail but bring to mind the many thousands of children who did not survive. The scul...

3 subjects commemorated, 4 creators
Southwark Cathedral - Shakespeare memorial

Southwark Cathedral - Shakespeare memorial

SE1, Cathedral Street, Southwark Cathedral

Carved into the panel behind the figure are images of the original Globe Theatre in Southwark, Winchester Palace and the tower of Southwa...

1 subject commemorated, 4 creators
Wolseley statue

Wolseley statue

SW1, Horse Guards Parade

Unveiled by the Duke of Connaught. Photo of the unveiling.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators