Prince Albert Memorial, Swanage

Last updated

The Prince Albert Memorial is a memorial in Swanage, Dorset in the form of a stone obelisk to Prince Albert, the consort of Queen Victoria, who died in 1861. The memorial was erected in 1862, and is notable for having been the earliest civic memorial to the Prince. It was dismantled in 1971, and only rebuilt 50 years later, in 2021.

Contents

1862 memorial

In January 1862, just four weeks after Prince Albert's death, Swanage builder George Burt wrote to the Rector of Swanage, the Revd Duncan Travers, to propose the erection of an obelisk of native stone. [1] Burt's design was modelled on the obelisk in Ludgate Circus [2] (now in Salisbury Square, off Fleet Street), commemorating the politician Robert Waithman. [3]

Built of Purbeck stone, the memorial was the first civic memorial to be erected to Prince Albert, in 1862. [4] The memorial by Thomas Worthington in Albert Square, Manchester, was the first major memorial and the first to depict an effigy of the Prince, but was not erected until three years after the one in Swanage, in 1865. [5] The memorial was located on Court Hill, near to the current site of the Royal British Legion. [6]

Deterioration, and removal

The top two courses were damaged by the Great Blizzard in 1881, only being restored after Burt reminded the local authority that it had accepted responsibility for its maintenance. [7] It was damaged by a heavy storm in 1901, but was still intact in 1925. [8] By 1931 the top 13 courses had been removed, probably by local builder Frank Smith on the instructions of the owner of the adjacent property at 158 High Street, who believed it had become unsafe but had been unable to get the council to act. [9] The stone was taken to Smith's yard on Northbrook Road and then, 15 years later, was sold to George Hancock & Co. [10] Hancock was acquired by Lander's Quarries and the stone was taken to its yard at Langton Matravers. [11]

Local historian David Lewer attempted to have the memorial restored for the centenary of Prince Albert's death in 1961, but without success. [12] The developer of 160 High Street obtained planning permission for the construction of housing and, as such, was to agree the relocation of the stump of the memorial. Despite this, the memorial was removed and its remains stored. [13]

There were abortive attempts to re-establish the memorial for the Queen's Silver Jubilee in 1977, when Prince Albert Gardens was opened in 1996 and for the Millennium in 2000. [14]

2021 rebuilding

Planning permission for the re-erection of the memorial was obtained in 2020. [15] At the time, the surviving remnants of the memorial were stored at St Aldhelm's quarry in Worth Matravers. [16] The work was commissioned by Swanage and Purbeck Development Trust and Swanage Museum & Heritage Centre, and paid for by a private benefactor, [17] Mike Sloggett. [18] The work was undertaken by Dorset Design Build. [19]

The new location is in Prince Albert Gardens, close to Peveril Point where Prince Albert is said to have disembarked from the royal yacht (HMY Victoria and Albert) on his visit to the town in 1856. [20] Prince Albert Gardens was built on the site of a former miniature golf course: the memorial is located on the site of the 4th hole. [21]

The memorial was opened in 2021. [22] [23]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Albert Memorial</span> Memorial to Prince Albert in Kensington Gardens, London

The Albert Memorial, directly north of the Royal Albert Hall in Kensington Gardens, London, was commissioned by Queen Victoria in memory of her beloved husband Prince Albert, who died in 1861. Designed by Sir George Gilbert Scott in the Gothic Revival style, it takes the form of an ornate canopy or pavilion 176 feet (54 m) tall, in the style of a Gothic ciborium over the high altar of a church, sheltering a statue of the prince facing south. It took over ten years to complete, the £120,000 cost met by public subscription.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanage</span> Town in England

Swanage is a coastal town and civil parish in the south east of Dorset, England. It is at the eastern end of the Isle of Purbeck and one of its two towns, approximately 6+1⁄4 miles (10 km) south of Poole and 25 miles (40 km) east of Dorchester. In the 2011 census the civil parish had a population of 9,601. Nearby are Ballard Down and Old Harry Rocks, with Studland Bay and Poole Harbour to the north. Within the parish are Durlston Bay and Durlston Country Park to the south of the town. The parish also includes the areas of Herston, just to the west of the town, and Durlston, just to the south.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Burt (Britain)</span>

George Burt was a public-works contractor and businessman from Swanage, England, who managed the construction company Mowlem, founded by his uncle John Mowlem.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Langton Matravers</span> Human settlement in England

Langton Matravers is a village and civil parish on the Isle of Purbeck, in the county of Dorset in the south of England. It is situated about 2 miles (3.2 km) west of Swanage town centre and 5 miles (8 km) south-east of Corfe Castle. In the 2011 Census the civil parish had 381 households and a population of 853.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Worth Matravers</span> Human settlement in England

Worth Matravers is a village and civil parish in the English county of Dorset. The village is situated on the cliffs west of Swanage. It comprises limestone cottages and farm houses and is built around a pond, which is a regular feature on postcards of the Isle of Purbeck.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Upton, Dorset</span> Human settlement in England

Upton is a town in south-east Dorset, England. Upton is to the east of Holton Heath and Upton Heath, and to the north of the Poole suburb of Hamworthy. It is the second largest town in the Purbeck Hills.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Carlo Marochetti</span> French sculptor

Baron Pietro Carlo Giovanni Battista Marochetti was an Italian-born French sculptor who worked in France, Italy and Britain. He completed many public sculptures, often in a neo-classical style, plus reliefs, memorials and large equestrian monuments in bronze and marble. In 1848, Marochetti settled in England, where he received commissions from Queen Victoria. Marochetti received great recognition during his lifetime, being made a baron in Italy and was awarded the Legion of Honour by the French government.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Dorset Police</span> English territorial police force

Dorset Police is the territorial police force responsible for policing the county of Dorset in South West England, which includes the largely rural area covered by Dorset Council, and the urban conurbation of Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole.

Purbeck Marble is a fossiliferous limestone found in the Isle of Purbeck, a peninsula in south-east Dorset, England. It is a variety of Purbeck stone that has been quarried since at least Roman times as a decorative building stone.

Durnford School was an English preparatory school for boys which opened in 1894 on the Isle of Purbeck in Dorset.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Alban's Head</span>

St Alban's Head is a headland located 5 kilometres (3.1 mi) southwest of Swanage, on the coast of Dorset, England. It is the most southerly part of the Purbeck peninsula, and comprises an outcrop of Portland Stone from the overlying Lower Purbeck Stone. It is part of the Jurassic Coast, a World Heritage Site. It is designated a Special Area of Conservation under the European Union's Habitats Directive.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Manchester Cenotaph</span> World War I memorial

Manchester Cenotaph is a war memorial in St Peter's Square, Manchester, England. Manchester was late in commissioning a First World War memorial compared with most British towns and cities; the city council did not convene a war memorial committee until 1922. The committee quickly achieved its target of raising £10,000 but finding a suitable location for the monument proved controversial. The preferred site in Albert Square would have required the removal and relocation of other statues and monuments, and was opposed by the city's artistic bodies. The next choice was Piccadilly Gardens, an area already identified for a possible art gallery and library; but in the interests of speedier delivery, the memorial committee settled on St Peter's Square. The area within the square had been had been purchased by the City Council in 1906, having been the site of the former St Peter's Church; whose sealed burial crypts remained with burials untouched and marked above ground by a memorial stone cross. Negotiations to remove these stalled so the construction of the cenotaph proceeded with the cross and burials in situ.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Alexander Garden Obelisk</span>

The Alexander Garden Obelisk is an obelisk located within the Alexander Garden, near the walls of Kremlin, in Moscow, Russia. The obelisk was initially designed by S. A. Vlasev and erected on July 10, 1914, at the entrance of the garden. It was created as a celebration of the tercentenary of the House of Romanov. The obelisk was moved closer to the center of the garden in 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rockhampton War Memorial</span> Historic site in Queensland, Australia

Rockhampton War Memorial is a heritage-listed memorial in the Rockhampton Botanic Gardens at Penlington Street, The Range, Rockhampton, Rockhampton Region, Queensland, Australia. It was built in 1924. It was added to the Queensland Heritage Register on 21 October 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Trevor Chadwick</span>

Trevor Chadwick was one of the people, mostly British, who oversaw the operation of the Kindertransport to rescue Jewish and other refugee children in Czechoslovakia in 1938–1939 before World War II. Nazi Germany annexed part of Czechoslovakia in 1938 and occupied nearly the whole country in 1939. The children were mostly resettled with families in Great Britain.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wellington clock tower</span>

The Wellington clock tower is a structure that stands on the seafront at Swanage in Dorset, England. It was originally built by the Commissioners for Lighting the West Division of Southwark at the southern end of London Bridge in 1854. It was intended as a memorial to the recently deceased Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, though funds proved insufficient to provide a statue of the man at the top of the tower, as had been originally intended. It housed a clock with four faces that were illuminated from within and a small telegraph office. Within 10 years the structure was overshadowed by the construction of nearby railway structures and became an obstruction to traffic using the bridge. It was disassembled in 1867.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Swanage Town Hall</span> Municipal building in Swanage, Dorset, England

Swanage Town Hall is a municipal building on Swanage High Street in Dorset. Constructed by the local building contractor George Burt in 1882–83, it reused materials salvaged from demolition works in London. The façade was rescued from London's 17th-century Mercers' Hall and the external clock is dated to 1826. It was not universally welcomed and one critic in the 1930s described it as "positively dreadful". The hall serves as the chamber for the current town council and has previously hosted the magistrates' court, fire brigade and citizens' advice service.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Prince Albert Gardens</span> Park in Swanage, Dorset, England

Prince Albert Gardens is a park in Swanage, Dorset, England. It was established in 1996.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Recreation Ground, Swanage</span> Pupblic park in Swanage, Dorset, England

The Recreation Ground is a public park in Swanage, Dorset. It was acquired prior to WWI, but only properly established in the 1920s.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Mary's Church, Swanage</span> Church in Dorset, England

St Mary's Church is a parish church in Swanage, Dorset. It is dedicated to the Virgin Mary. The church is in the Archdeaconry of Dorset, in the Diocese of Salisbury. The tower is mediaeval; the church itself is a 19th and early 20th-century reconstruction. It is Grade II listed.

References

  1. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  2. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  3. ↑ "Waymarking: Robert Waithman Obelisk" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  4. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  5. ↑ Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1197820)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 22 March 2009.
  6. ↑ "Swanage Town Council: Albert Memorial Reconstruction" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  7. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  8. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  9. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  10. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  11. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  12. ↑ "Dorset Life: "A monumental task in Swanage", 1 March 2019" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  13. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  14. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  15. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  16. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  17. ↑ "Swanage Town Council: Albert Memorial Reconstruction" . Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  18. ↑ "Swanage News: "It's up! The Albert Memorial in Swanage is completed", 12 August 2021". 12 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  19. ↑ "Dorset Design Build: Latest Projects – 20th August". 20 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  20. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  21. ↑ "Swanage News: "Albert Memorial gets planning permission to be re-erected in Prince Albert Gardens", 4 October 2020". 4 October 2020. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  22. ↑ "Swanage News: "It's up! The Albert Memorial in Swanage is completed", 12 August 2021". 12 August 2021. Retrieved 30 August 2021.
  23. ↑ "Swanage Museum: Albert Memorial" . Retrieved 23 January 2023.

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.