Monument to Edward VII - The Peace Statue
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | Kingsway / Kings Road |
| Town: | Brighton / Hove |
| Parish: | Brighton / Hove |
| Council: | Brighton & Hove City Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | BN3/BN1 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Road or Wayside |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Between Brunswick Lawns and the Esplanade opposite Brunswick Terrace. Sits on the boundary between Brighton and Hove. |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 131 |
| Grid reference: | M8 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
| OS Reference: | TQ2904 |
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Makers
| Company/Group : | A.B.Burton, Thames Ditton |
| Role: | Foundry |
| Company/Group : | William Kirkpatrick Ltd., Manchester |
| Role: | Builder |
| Name : | Newbury Abbot Trent |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Unveiling date: | 12/10/1912 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Brighton & Hove City Council |
| Object listing: | Grade II: of special interest warranting every effort to preserve them |
| Listing date: | 13/10/1952 |
| Description: | A draped, winged, female figure standing on a globe. The left hand holds an orb, the right arm is raised holding an olive branch. The figure faces the road. The globe is supported by dolphin-like figures with swag in their mouths. The statue stands atop a stone pedestal that carries bronze plaques on each side. There are three steps surrounded by grass at the base of the pedestal. |
| Iconographical description: | A winged figure representing peace. |
| Signatures: | Base of globe, right hand side:
N A TRENT Sc LONDON Base of pedestal: NEWBURY A. TRENT. SC. |
| Inscription: | EDWARD VII 1901 - 1910 West face, bronze coat of arms with lettering on scrolls underneath: FLOREAT HOVA Bronze plaque to south face: IN THE YEAR 1912 THE INHABITANTS OF BRIGHTON AND HOVE PROVIDED A HOME FOR THE QUEEN'S NURSES AND ERECTED THIS MON- UMENT IN MEMORY OF KING EDWARD VII AND AS A TESTIMONYOF THEIR ENDURING LOYALTY Bronze plaque on east face: IN DEO FIDEMUS |
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Classification
| Categories: | Commemorative, Sculptural, Free Standing |
| Object type1: | Statue |
| Object type2: | Sculpture |
| Object type3: | Shaft |
| Object subtype1: | Obelisk |
| Subject type1: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Full-length |
| Subject type2: | Allegorical |
| Subject subtype1: | Standing |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Statue |
| Material: | Bronze |
| Height (cm): | 305 |
| Part 2: | Stepped base |
| Material: | Stancliffe Stone (Sandstone) |
| Width (cm): | 777 |
| Depth (cm): | 777 |
| Part 3: | Pedestal |
| Material: | Stancliffe Stone (Sandstone) |
| Height (cm): | 610 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Broken or missing parts |
| More details: | Surrounding railings badly corroded with parts missing. |
| Condition 2 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Bird Guano |
| Condition 2: | Corrosion, Deterioration |
| More details: | Some corrosion evident to the pedestal |
| Condition 3 of type: | Vandalism |
| Condition 1: | Graffiti |
| More details: | Red paint on base of statue |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 17/03/2003 |
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History
| History: | A memorial to Edward VII that marks the boundary between Hove and Brighton. It depicts an angel, representing peace, holding an orb and an olive branch. It is in fact a memorial to Edward VII, 'The Peacemaker'. He convalesced several times in Brighton. In 1910 Brighton Council approached Hove Council concerning a memorial to the late King. Each town chose a committee including each Mayor and Town Clerk. They met on Wednesday 2 November 1910 and jointly decided that the money raised from public subscription would be spent on providing a home for the Queens Nurses and on a memorial to be erected on the border of both towns. A sum of £1800 was paid to the Queens Nurses towards their new headquarters in Wellington Road and £900 was spent on the memorial. It was designed by Newbury Trent and bears the arms of both Brighton and Hove boroughs. The statue was unveiled by the Duke of Norfolk in October 1912. Part of the memorial fund raised jointly by the two Boroughs was devoted to the provision of a Home for the Queens Nurses, in Wellington Road, Brighton. For a year before the erection of the statue, a wooden model of it stood in its place. The site of the statue itself is actually in Brighton, but the responsibility of maintaining it is Hove's. The memorial cost £1000 when constructed. Newbury Trent got the commission by winning a competition in which their were eighteen submissions from artists and firms.
The memorial was unveiled by The Duke of Norfolk, E.M., K.G., Lord Lieutenant of Sussex. A memorial had been proposed some years after the King’s death because of the relationship that he had had with particularly Brighton, spending much time in the town, particularly in his last few years alive. Public subscription across the two Boroughs had ensured that a permanent monument could be built in addition to something for the ‘suffering poor’. The monument was therefore erected to straddle the border between the two Boroughs. Dense crowds had gathered in glorious weather both at the Peace Memorial and also in Wellington Road where the Duke was opening the new central Home of the Queen’s Nurses, that the memorial fund had also paid for. ‘The statue is a noble and striking winged figure standing on a globe representing the universe. Under the globe there is an indication of the waters under the earth, and the dolphins which support it represent the fishes that are in the waters. In the uplifted right hand the figure holds an olive branch and in the other an emblem of eternity. The whole stands on a pedestal of Stancliffe stone, on the four faces of which are bronze panels. The front panel bears a relief portrait of the King, the side panels the Arms of Brighton and Hove respectively…The height of the monument is 27 feet, and that of the figure about ten feet. Some 35 tons of the finest Stancliffe stone were used in the construction of the base and pedestal, and the ground space occupied by the monument is 25 feet 6 inches square and the height over all is 30 feet.’ The Mayor and Mayoress of Brighton gave a private luncheon party at Preston Manor prior to the ceremony. Mayors and dignitaries of both Brighton and Hove Boroughs attended the unveiling. ‘O God Our Help in Ages Past’ was sung followed by a dedicatory prayer and Benediction by the Bishop of Chichester. Then the Duke was asked to unveil the monument. Speeches followed and then the party made their way to Wellington Road where the Duke opened the new Queen Alexandra Homes. A large stone tablet was unveiled with the inscription: Brighton and Hove / Home for Queen’s Nurses / This Home was provided / By the Inhabitants of / Brighton and Hove / In memory of / King Edward VII / And was Opened by / The Duke of Norfolk, E.M., K.G., / Lord Lieutenant of the County, / On the / 12th October, 1912. (Brighton Gazette. 16 October 1912.) ‘The monument takes the form of a beautiful winged figure of Peace which lifts itself in bronze from a great pedestal of Stancliffe stone or Derbyshire granite... With one hand the figure stretches forth an olive branch, the symbol of peace; while the other bears the orb; the emblem of sovereignty’. The monument cost approximately £1000. The home for the Queens Nurses at 14 Wellington Road, Brighton cost a further £4000. A substantial donation to the fund had been made by Mr. Arthur Wagg, J.P. The ceremony opened with the singing of ‘O God Our Help in Ages Past’ but ‘Unfortunately the effect was sadly marred by the lack of stage management so far as the accompaniment was concerned; the Artillery Band went full steam ahead without any regard for the singers’. In his dedication, the Bishop of Chichester referred to ‘...the cordiality with which Brighton and Hove had co-operated in regard to this memorial. The two adjacent Boroughs, he observed, had not always in the past seen eye to eye in matters which concerned them both. But it appears that this was the occasion for the forgetting of ancient differences and the healing of ancient sores; and the representatives of Brighton were met with the greatest cordiality by the Mayor and the Committee of Hove’. The builders of the memorial were Messrs. Kirkpatrick Bros. of Manchester. The bronzework was cast by Mr. A. B. Burton of Thames Ditton who cast the bronzework of the Queen Victoria Memorial at Buckingham Palace. ‘Just previous to the ceremony, as the Duke and his escort were proceeding along King’s Road, an unfortunate incident occurred. P.C. Ellis was preceeding the escort, when, near the old Alhambra, his horse slipped and fell, pinning the rider’s right leg beneath it. As the constable was in considerable pain, he was put into a taxicab and driven to the Royal Sussex Hospital. There it was ascertained that, although no bones were broken, the right foot was badly bruised’. (Brighton Herald. 19 October 1912.) |
| Hard archive file: | Yes |
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References
| Source 1 : | |
| Title: | 'Open Air Statues and Memorials' - New Pamphlet Box 17 (typed paper, 2 pages) |
| Type: | Archive |
| Location: | Brighton History Centre |
| Catalogue reference: | JLR 3/5/87 |
| Source 2 : | |
| Title: | 'A Pictorial anGuide to Brighton and Hove, the South Downs, Shoreham, Bramber, Lewes, Newhaven etc.' |
| Type: | Book |
| Edition: | 11th |
| Date: | 00/00/1837 |
| Page: | 57 |
| Publisher: | Ward Lock & Co. Ltd. London.. |
Further information: | |
| http://www.mybrightonandhove.org.uk/page_id__6169_path__0p115p195p876p.aspx | |
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Photographs
Date: 19/04/2007 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Date: 19/04/2007 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Date: 19/04/2007 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Date: 19/04/2007 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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