Statue

William III statue - SW1

Erection date: 1808

Inscription

{On either side of the plinth is written:}
GVLIELMVS.III

This statue shows King Billy's horse about to trip over a mole-hill and throw the monarch to his eventual death.
The modern information board at the entrance to the gardens states: "The statue of King William III, which now graces the centre of the Gardens, was first suggested in 1697, but it was not erected until 1808, and was executed in bronze by John Bacon."
Elsewhere we learn that it was designed by John Bacon and completed, after his death, by his son, John Bacon the Younger.

2022: Vic Keegan succinctly lays out the troubled history of this statue's arrival, over 100 years late.

Site: William III statue - SW1 (1 memorial)

SW1, St James's Square

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:
William III statue - SW1

Subjects commemorated i

King William III (of Orange)

Son of William II, Prince of Orange, and Mary Stuart (daughter of Charles I)....

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
William III statue - SW1

Created by i

John Bacon the Elder

Awarded the first gold medal for sculpture by the Royal Academy in 1769. Othe...

Read More

John Bacon the Younger

Son of John Bacon the elder. He trained as a sculptor and carried on his fath...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Frieze of Parnassus - Milton

Frieze of Parnassus - Milton

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
City of London School 4 - Newton

City of London School 4 - Newton

EC4, Victoria Embankment, 60

We've listed the statues left to right across the front of the building, with More all on his lonesome on the west (left) facade.  The 1...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
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
Olaudah Equiano - SE14

Olaudah Equiano - SE14

SE14, Erlanger Road, Telegraph Hill Lower Park

Londonist informs: "It stands on a ceramic plinth with three sides, which symbolises both the triangular route of the Atlantic slave trad...

2 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Temple Bar memorial - Edward VII

Temple Bar memorial - Edward VII

EC4, Fleet Street

The niche on the north face holds a marble statue of the Prince of Wales, later Edward VII, in Field Marshal's uniform. Carved in the sto...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Private R. B. Peters
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
S. Alexander
War dead, WW2
1 memorial
R. Shilling
War dead, WW1
1 memorial
F. J. Wheller

F. J. Wheller

Man of East or West Molesey who died in WW1.

Person

War dead, WW1
1 memorial