A statue of Oliver Cromwell stands on Market Hill in

St Ives, Cambridgeshire St Ives is a market town and civil parishes in England, civil parish in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England, east of Huntingdon and north-west of Cambridge. St Ives is historically in the historic county of Huntingdonsh ...

, England. It is a sculpture of

Oliver Cromwell Oliver Cromwell (25 April 15993 September 1658) was an English politician and military officer who is widely regarded as one of the most important statesmen in English history. He came to prominence during the 1639 to 1651 Wars of the Three ...

Lord Protector Lord Protector (plural: ''Lords Protector'') was 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 sometimes ...

of the

Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland A commonwealth is a traditional English term for a political community founded for the common good. Historically, it has been synonymous with "republic". The noun "commonwealth", meaning "public welfare, general good or advantage", dates from th ...

. The statue was designed by

F. W. Pomeroy Frederick William Pomeroy (9 October 1856 – 26 May 1924) was a prolific British sculptor of architectural and monumental works. He became a leading sculptor in the New Sculpture movement, a group distinguished by a stylistic turn towards nat ...

and erected in 1901. The statue is one of five public statues of Cromwell in the United Kingdom and is

Grade II In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern I ...

listed for its architectural merit.

Description and history

The statue was sculpted by

, and features Cromwell standing and pointing. The statue is approached by three steps of Aberdeen granite, with ornamental lamps on each corner. The location of the statue in the market place in St Ives had been proposed by the historian

Thomas Carlyle Thomas Carlyle (4 December 17955 February 1881) was a Scottish essayist, historian and philosopher. A leading writer of the Victorian era, he exerted a profound influence on 19th-century art, literature and philosophy. Born in Ecclefechan, ...

in an 1849 letter. Carlyle wrote to I.K. Holland that: In 1899 the nearby town of

Huntingdon Huntingdon is a market town in the Huntingdonshire district in Cambridgeshire, England. The town was given its town charter by John, King of England, King John in 1205. It was the county town of the historic county of Huntingdonshire. Oliver Cr ...

abandoned their plan to erect a statue to Cromwell, and the opportunity was seized by St Ives.

was commissioned as the sculptor, and the statue was exhibited at the

Royal Academy of Arts 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 ...

in London to good reviews. It is the only statue of Cromwell in England that was funded by public donations. The statue has been described as the "...second most visited and photographed monument" in St Ives after the town's

bridge chapel A bridge chapel is a small place of Christian worship, built either on, or immediately adjacent to, a road bridge; they were commonly established during pre- Reformation medieval era in Europe. Although sometimes built on land at the very star ...

on the St Ives Bridge dedicated to St Ledger. The statue was unveiled on 23 October 1901 by the Liberal politician Lord Edmond Fitzmaurice.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Statue of Oliver Cromwell, St Ives, Cambridgeshire 1901 establishments in England 1901 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Oliver Cromwell Outdoor sculptures in England Cromwell, Oliver Cromwell, Oliver, St Ives Grade II listed buildings in Cambridgeshire Monuments and memorials in Cambridgeshire St Ives, Cambridgeshire Books in art

Description and history

See also

References

External links