| Edward VII Memorial | |
|---|---|
 The statue in 2007 | |
| Artist | Newbury Abbot Trent |
| Year | 1912 |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Subject | Edward VII |
| Dimensions | 8.2 m(27 ft) |
| Designation | Grade II listed building |
| Location | Brighton/Hove, England |
| 50°49′21″N0°09′25″W / 50.822519°N 0.156957°W | |
The Edward VII Memorial, commonly known as the Peace Statue or Peace Memorial, is a statue on the boundary of Brighton and Hove on the English south coast. The monument was built in 1912 and sculpted by Newbury Abbot Trent.
Edward VII frequented Brighton and Hove; unlike his mother, Queen Victoria, Edward was fond of the area. He convalesced there several times and spent considerable time there in his last few years. He was nicknamed "the Peacemaker" for his efforts to improve Britain's relations abroad. When he died in 1910, the borough councils of Brighton and Hove agreed to collaborate on a memorial. [1]
There was public appetite to remember the king after his death but the form of the memorial was the subject of much public discussion. The two borough councils were keen to provide something for the working poor as well as a monument. [2] They formed a committee, which included both mayors and both town clerks, and agreed that money raised from public subscriptions in memory of the king would be put towards a home for the Queen's Nurses on Wellington Road in Brighton and a monument to Edward. Of the £2,700 raised, £1,800 was allocated to the nurses' home and £900 to the monument (the eventual cost was £1,000). The design was decided by open competition. Newbury Abbot Trent was chosen from 18 entries. A wooden mock-up of the monument stood on the site for a year before construction started. [1] [2]
The statue straddles the boundary between Brighton and Hove on Kingsway (named for Edward VII) facing Brunswick Terrace with its back to the sea. [1] [3] [4] It is a bronze statue standing on a globe atop a pedestal of Derbyshire granite. The statue takes the form of a draped, winged figure of Victory. Victory stands on a globe, also in bronze, which is supported by dolphins at the four corners of the pedestal. The dolphins, a symbol of Brighton, have swags (decorative tree branches) in their mouths. Victory holds an olive branch in her outstretched right hand and an orb (a symbol of sovereignty) in her left. [1] [2] [5] The figure was intended to represent peace but is part of a long tradition of using the Greek goddess Nike as an allegorical figure of victory, traditionally a good omen descending on the Earth. [2] The statue is "a prominent feature" of the Brunswick Lawns – the open space between Brunswick Terrace and the seafront. [6]
The pedestal contains elaborate decoration. On each face of the pedestal is a bronze plaque beneath a moulded cornice. On the front (north) side, facing Brunswick Terrace is a relief portrait of Edward VII. The arms of Brighton and Hove feature on the east and west sides respectively. At the bottom is a set of three steps which stand in the centre of a square patch of grass which is surrounded by low bronze railings. The monument is 27 feet (8.2 metres) tall in total, of which about 10 feet (3 metres) is the statue and the rest is the pedestal. [1] [5]
Trent's signature appears in one corner of the globe and at the base of the pedestal. Beneath the relief of the king is the inscription "Edward VII 1901–1910". On the east side is Brighton's motto, "In Deo Fidemus" ("in God we trust") and on the west is Hove's motto, "Floreat Hova" ("may Hove flourish"). The main inscription is embossed on a bronze panel on the back (south face) of the pedestal: [1]
IN THE YEAR 1912 THE INHABITANTS OF BRIGHTON AND HOVE PROVIDED A HOME FOR THE QUEEN'S NURSES AND ERECTED THIS MONUMENT IN MEMORY OF KING EDWARD VII AND AS A TESTIMONY OF THEIR ENDURING LOYALTY [1] [5]
The monument was built by Kirkpatrick Bros. of Manchester and the bronze was cast by A. B. Burton, who was responsible for many nationally significant monuments, including the Victoria Memorial in London. [1] At the architect's suggestion, a railing was built around the base of the monument in summer 1913 at an additional cost of £200. [7]
The statue was unveiled by the Duke of Norfolk, the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, on 12 October 1912. Large crowds gathered for the unveiling of both the statue and the nurse's home on Wellington Road, which the duke inaugurated on the same day. The duke emphasised the importance of a monument to peace at a time of rising tension in Europe and a widespread fear that war was looming. Among the attendees were the mayors of both Brighton and Hove and many local dignitaries. They sung hymns including "O God, Our Help in Ages Past", accompanied by the Royal Artillery Band, and the Bishop of Chichester, Charles Ridgeway, offered a dedicatory prayer. Several speeches were given, after which the unveiling party proceeded to Wellington Road. The bishop remarked that the monument was the product of cooperation between Brighton and Hove, two towns that were historic rivals. [1] [2]
The quadriga on the Wellington Arch in London was installed the same year, featuring another figure of Victory. Edward took a keen interest in that work before his death. The monument was well received in the local press. The Brighton Herald called it an "artistic addition to two towns that are not rich in beautiful statuary". [2] Following the First World War, the monument was often mistaken for a war memorial. Locally, it was regarded as a symbol of successful collaboration between Brighton and Hove despite their past differences. [2]
The monument was designated a Grade II listed building, a status which provides legal protection from demolition or unauthorised modification, on 13 October 1952, the day after the 40th anniversary of its unveiling. [5] Hove Borough Council took responsibility for the statue's maintenance until 1997, when the two boroughs were combined into the unitary authority (and later city) of Brighton and Hove. [1]
Brunswick Town is an area in Hove, in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. It is best known for the Regency architecture of the Brunswick estate.
There are 24 Grade I listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
There are 72 Grade II* listed buildings in the city of Brighton and Hove, England. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
The Clock Tower is a free-standing clock tower in the centre of Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in 1888 in commemoration of the Golden Jubilee of Queen Victoria, the distinctive structure included innovative structural features and became a landmark in the popular and fashionable seaside resort. The city's residents "retain a nostalgic affection" for it, even though opinion is sharply divided as to the tower's architectural merit. English Heritage has listed the clock tower at Grade II for its architectural and historical importance.
As of February 2001, there were 1,124 listed buildings with Grade II status in the English city of Brighton and Hove. The total at 2009 was similar. The city, on the English Channel coast approximately 52 miles (84 km) south of London, was formed as a unitary authority in 1997 by the merger of the neighbouring towns of Brighton and Hove. Queen Elizabeth II granted city status in 2000.
Brighton and Hove, a city on the English Channel coast in southeast England, has a large and diverse stock of buildings "unrivalled architecturally" among the country's seaside resorts. The urban area, designated a city in 2000, is made up of the formerly separate towns of Brighton and Hove, nearby villages such as Portslade, Patcham and Rottingdean, and 20th-century estates such as Moulsecoomb and Mile Oak. The conurbation was first united in 1997 as a unitary authority and has a population of about 253,000. About half of the 20,430-acre (8,270 ha) geographical area is classed as built up.
The Freemasons Tavern is a 19th-century pub in the Brunswick Town area of Hove, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. Built in the 1850s in a Classical style similar to the surrounding buildings in the rapidly growing Brunswick Town area, it was given a "spectacular" renovation when a restaurant was added in the 1920s. Local architecture firm Denman & Son designed an ornate Art Deco interior and an elaborate, brightly coloured entrance adorned with Masonic symbols; both the exterior and the interior survive in excellent condition. The tavern is a Grade II Listed building.
John Leopold DenmanFRIBA was an architect from the English seaside resort of Brighton, now part of the city of Brighton and Hove. He had a prolific career in the area during the 20th century, both on his own and as part of the Denman & Son firm in partnership with his son John Bluet Denman. Described as "the master of ... mid-century Neo-Georgian", Denman was responsible for a range of commercial, civic and religious buildings in Brighton, and pubs and hotels there and elsewhere on the south coast of England on behalf of Brighton's Kemp Town Brewery. He used other architectural styles as well, and was responsible for at least one mansion, several smaller houses, various buildings in cemeteries and crematoria, and alterations to many churches. His work on church restorations has been praised, and he has been called "the leading church architect of his time in Sussex"; he also wrote a book on the ecclesiastical architecture of the county.
Clayton & Black were a firm of architects and surveyors from Brighton, part of the English city of Brighton and Hove. In a career spanning the Victorian, Edwardian and interwar eras, they were responsible for designing and constructing an eclectic range of buildings in the growing town of Brighton and its neighbour Hove. Their work encompassed new residential, commercial, industrial and civic buildings, shopping arcades, churches, schools, cinemas and pubs, and alterations to hotels and other buildings. Later reconstituted as Clayton, Black & Daviel, the company designed some churches in the postwar period.
The Old Steine Gardens in Brighton, Brighton and Hove, East Sussex, England, adjacent to the Old Steine thoroughfare, are the site of several monuments of national historic significance.
Palmeira Square is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. At the southern end it adjoins Adelaide Crescent, another architectural set-piece which leads down to the seafront; large terraced houses occupy its west and east sides, separated by a public garden; and at the north end is one of Hove's main road junctions. This is also called Palmeira Square, and its north side is lined with late 19th-century terraced mansions. Commercial buildings and a church also stand on the main road, which is served by Brighton & Hove bus routes 1, 1A, N1, 2, 5, 5A, 5B, N5, 6, 25, 46, 49, 60, 71, 71A and 96.
Adelaide Crescent is a mid-19th-century residential development in Hove, part of the English city and seaside resort of Brighton and Hove. Conceived as an ambitious attempt to rival the large, high-class Kemp Town estate east of Brighton, the crescent was not built to its original plan because time and money were insufficient. Nevertheless, together with its northerly neighbour Palmeira Square, it forms one of Hove's most important architectural set-pieces. Building work started in 1830 to the design of Decimus Burton. The adjacent land was originally occupied by "the world's largest conservatory", the Anthaeum; its collapse stopped construction of the crescent, which did not resume until the 1850s. The original design was modified and the crescent was eventually finished in the mid-1860s. Together with the Kemp Town and Brunswick Town estates, the crescent is one of the foremost pre-Victorian residential developments in the Brighton area: it has been claimed that "outside Bath, [they] have no superior in England". The buildings in the main part of Adelaide Crescent are Grade II* listed. Some of the associated buildings at the sea-facing south end are listed at the lower Grade II.
Arthur Abraham David Sassoon was an English banker and socialite.
Thomas Simpson (1825–1908) was a British architect associated with the seaside town of Brighton. As architect to the Brighton and Preston School Board and the equivalent institution in neighbouring Hove, he designed "a distinguished group of board schools" during the late 19th century, when the provision of mass education was greatly extended. Many of these schools survive and some have listed status. He also worked on five Nonconformist chapels for various Christian denominations, using a wide variety of materials and architectural styles. He was the father of Sir John William Simpson and Gilbert Murray Simpson, who both became architects.
Elm Grove is a mainly residential area of Brighton, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. The densely populated district lies on a steep hill northeast of the city centre and developed in the second half of the 19th century after the laying out of a major west–east road, also called Elm Grove. Terraced houses, small shops and architecturally impressive public buildings characterise the streetscape: within the area are a major hospital, two churches and a former board school, as well as Brighton's oldest council houses and an interwar council estate.
Courtenay Gate is a block of serviced apartments on the seafront in Hove, part of the English coastal city of Brighton and Hove. Situated in a prominent position next to the beach and overlooking Hove Lawns, the six-storey block is Neo-Georgian in style and dates from 1934. It is in a conservation area and is a locally listed building. Built to replace a terrace of early-19th-century houses which had been demolished more than 30 years earlier, the "imposing" gault brick building has a "palatial" appearance and is a landmark on the seafront.
Hove War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located on Grand Avenue in Hove, part of the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. Hove was the site of one of the earliest recruiting events at the beginning of the war and later of several military hospitals. Over 600 men from the town were killed during the war, a quarter of them from the local regiment alone. A war memorial committee was established in 1919 and Lutyens was engaged as architect. A design was agreed in 1920 after two unsuccessful proposals; Lutyens chose the site from several options.
The Burton upon Trent war memorial commemorates those from the town that were killed in the First and Second World Wars. The memorial was commissioned by the county borough of Burton upon Trent from sculptor Henry Charles Fehr shortly after the end of the First World War. The finished memorial was unveiled by William Legge, 6th Earl of Dartmouth on 2 August 1922. Its principal figure is that of Victory, standing atop a pedestal that is flanked by the smaller figures of Saint George and Peace. The memorial is a grade II* listed building.
The Statue of Queen Victoria stands on the sea front at the bottom of Grand Avenue in Hove on the south coast of England. The statue is one of 14 by Thomas Brock and was unveiled in February 1901, the month after Queen Victoria's death. It is a grade II listed building.