A statue of Oliver Cromwell stands on Bridge Street in

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

Cheshire Cheshire ( ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in North West England. It is bordered by Merseyside to the north-west, Greater Manchester to the north-east, Derbyshire to the east, Staffordshire to the south-east, and Shrop ...

, England. It is a sculpture of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English statesman, politician and soldier, widely regarded as one of the most important figures in British history. He came to prominence during the Wars of the Three Kingdoms, initially ...

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') is a title that has been used in British constitutional law for the head of state. It was also a particular title for the British heads of state in respect to the established church. It was sometime ...

of the

Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from the 15th century. Originally a phrase (the common-wealth ...

. The statue was designed by John Bell and erected in 1899. The statue is one of five public statues of Cromwell in the United Kingdom and has been

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building is a structure of particular architectural or historic interest deserving of special protection. Such buildings are placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Hi ...

listed since September 1973 for its architectural merit.

Description and history

The statue was made by the London sculptor John Bell and was originally displayed at the 1862 London Exhibition, where it stood at the centre of a fountain. It was presented to the town in 1899 by local councilor Frederick Monks to mark the 300th anniversary of Cromwell's birth. It stands in front of

Warrington Academy Warrington Academy, active as a teaching establishment from 1756 to 1782, was a prominent dissenting academy, that is, a school or college set up by those who dissented from the established Church of England. It was located in Warrington (then ...

, and consists of a standing iron figure on a square

plinth A pedestal or plinth is a support at the bottom of a statue, vase, column, or certain altars. Smaller pedestals, especially if round in shape, may be called socles. In civil engineering, it is also called ''basement''. The minimum height o ...

with a sword and bible. Cromwell is shown without his hat. It is inscribed with "Cromwell" as a signature. There was opposition to the statue from the local Irish community. In a letter to the council in January 1899 Monks stated that: The acceptance and erection of the statue was vigorously debated by Warrington Town Council.

References

*{{Citation , last1 =Pollard, first1 =Richard , last2 = Pevsner , first2 = Nikolaus , author2-link =Nikolaus Pevsner, series= The Buildings of England, title =Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West , publisher =

Yale University Press Yale University Press is the university press of Yale University. It was founded in 1908 by George Parmly Day and Clarence Day, grandsons of Benjamin Day, and became a department of Yale University in 1961, but it remains financially and ope ...

, year =2006 , location =New Haven and London , isbn =0-300-10910-5 1899 establishments in England 1862 sculptures

Oliver Cromwell Outdoor sculptures in England Cromwell, Oliver Monuments and memorials in Cheshire Cromwell, Oliver, Warrington Grade II listed buildings in Cheshire Listed buildings in Warrington Cast-iron sculptures Sculptures of books

Description and history

See also

References