The statue of Queen Victoria stands at the western end of Friar Street outside the

Town Hall In local government, a city hall, town hall, civic centre (in the UK or Australia), guildhall, or a municipal building (in the Philippines), is the chief administrative building of a city, town, or other municipality. It usually houses ...

of Reading, Berkshire, in southern England.

The statue

Queen Victoria (1819–1901) was the queen of many realms in the British Empire, and Empress of India. She is widely memorialised in statuary, throughout the former British Empire, and elsewhere. This statue is carved from stone and stands atop a substantial plinth.

The artist

George Blackall Simonds George Blackall Simonds (6 October 1843 – 16 December 1929) was an English sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery in Reading in the English county of Berkshire. Biography George was the second son of George Simonds Senior of Readi ...

(1843–1929) was a Reading sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery. He exhibited consistently at the

Royal Academy The Royal Academy of Arts (RA) is an art institution based in Burlington House on Piccadilly in London. Founded in 1768, it has a unique position as an independent, privately funded institution led by eminent artists and architects. Its pur ...

. Simonds studied under

Johannes Schilling Johannes Schilling (23 June 1828 in Mittweida – 21 March 1910 in Klotzsche near Dresden) was a German sculptor. Life and work Johannes Schilling was the youngest of five children. A year after his birth, his family moved to Dresden, where he g ...

in Dresden, and Louis Jehotte at The Academy of Brussels. He created over 200 pieces in many different media. While ''The Falconer'' (1873) is in Central Park, New York, much of his larger work is to be found in or near Reading. Substantial pieces were also commissioned for

Allahabad Allahabad (), officially known as Prayagraj, also known as Ilahabad, is a metropolis in the Indian state of Uttar Pradesh.The other five cities were: Agra, Kanpur (Cawnpore), Lucknow, Meerut, and Varanasi (Benares). It is the administrat ...

and Calcutta in India. The '' Maiwand Lion'' (1866) in the Forbury Gardens is his, the

Statue of George Palmer The statue of George Palmer stands in Palmer Park, in Reading, Berkshire. The statue, by George Blackall Simonds, was unveiled in 1891, though it was originally in Broad Street and only later moved to Palmer Park. The statue has been classed ...

and that of H. Blandy, another mayor of Reading. In 1922 he designed the war memorial at

Bradfield, Berkshire Bradfield is a village and civil parish in Berkshire, England. Aside from farms and a smaller amount of woodland its main settlements are Bradfield Southend, its medieval-founded nucleus and the hamlet of Tutts Clump. Bradfield village is the h ...

, which commemorates the deaths in the First World War of those of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, including his son.

References

External links

{{Listed buildings in Reading Sculptures by George Blackall Simonds Buildings and structures in Berkshire Culture in Reading, Berkshire Outdoor sculptures in England Monuments and memorials in Berkshire Statues in England Reading