Richard Landers Monument (geograph 2010171)

Lander's Monument is a memorial to

Richard Lander Richard Lemon Lander (8 February 1804 – 6 February 1834) was a British explorer of western Africa. He and his brother John were the first Europeans to follow the course of the River Niger, and discover that it led to the Atlantic. Biograp ...

on Lemon Street, in Truro, the county town of Cornwall in south west England. The monument is a grade II* listed building.

Background

Richard Lander (1804–1834) was an explorer born and educated in Truro. At the age of 13, he was sent as a servant on an expedition to the West Indies. On his return to England, he served several wealthy families with whom he travelled in Europe. He assisted Major W. M. G. Colebrooke on an expedition to Cape Colony (in modern-day South Africa) in 1823, then Hugh Clapperton on an expedition to West Africa in 1825. They explored the lands around the Niger River until 1827, when Clapperton died. Lander made his way back to the coast and thence to England with Clapperton's papers. He published the papers largely unedited in 1829, along with his own journal, then in 1830 published an edited version in two volumes. In January 1830, Lander and his brother, John, departed Truro on an expedition to find the source and trace the course of the Niger River. They reached

Yelwa Yelwa is a town in Kebbi State, Nigeria on the Niger River and the A1 highway (Nigeria), A1 highway. The town is often referred to as "Yelwa, Yauri, Nigeria, Yauri", after the Yauri Emirate, Emirate and Local Government Areas of Nigeria, Local Gover ...

(in modern-day Nigeria) before navigating downstream in canoes, becoming the first Europeans to discover that the Niger drained into the Atlantic. Lander was awarded the

Royal Geographical Society The Royal Geographical Society (with the Institute of British Geographers), often shortened to RGS, is a learned society and professional body for geography based in the United Kingdom. Founded in 1830 for the advancement of geographical scien ...

gold medal and the brothers' journals were published by John Murray to great acclaim, then translated into multiple languages. Richard died in 1834 from an infected gunshot wound sustained on another African expedition.

Design and history

The monument consists of a tall

Doric column The Doric order was one of the three orders of ancient Greek and later Roman architecture; the other two canonical orders were the Ionic and the Corinthian. The Doric is most easily recognized by the simple circular capitals at the top of col ...

by the architect Philip Sambell, completed in 1835, surmounted by a statue of Lander by the sculptor

Neville Northey Burnard Nevil or Neville Northey Burnard (11 October 1818 – 27 November 1878) was a 19th century English sculptor best known for his portrait figures. Life Burnard was born in the village of Altarnun, on the edge of Bodmin Moor in Cornwall. He was t ...

in 1852. The building work was executed by Bowden of Helston. The column is in dressed grey granite and stands on a substantial square plinth carved from

ashlar Ashlar () is finely dressed (cut, worked) stone, either an individual stone that has been worked until squared, or a structure built from such stones. Ashlar is the finest stone masonry unit, generally rectangular cuboid, mentioned by Vitruv ...

. The site was donated by Sir Charles Lemon, a local public figure. The monument fell over in 1836, the year after its construction, but was repaired. The monument is one of several to Lander. His wife and daughter erected a memorial in the Savoy Chapel in London, but this was destroyed by fire in 1864. The RGS paid for a stained-glass window as a replacement but this was destroyed by enemy bombing during the Second World War.

References

{{coord, 50.25938, -5.05486, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title Monuments and memorials in Cornwall Truro Grade II* listed buildings in Cornwall