Grey's Monument

Grey's Monument is a Grade I-listed monument in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was built in 1838 in recognition of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. In particular, it celebrates the passing of the Great Reform Act 1832, one of Grey's most important legislative achievements. The act reorganised the system of parliamentary constituencies and increased the number of those eligible to vote.

The monument is located at the junction of Grey, Grainger and Blackett Streets and has a total height of . It was funded via public subscription and consists of a statue of Earl Grey on a pedestal standing on top of a Roman Doric column. The column was designed by local architect, Benjamin Green, and the statue was created by the sculptor, Edward Hodges Baily.

A contemporary report of the unveiling ceremony described the monument as "a fine imaginative work of art" and other 19th century commentators praised it as "a noble effort of genius" and as having "a most commanding appearance". However, its location, then at the centre of the city's tram infrastructure, was criticised as unsuitable, with one newspaper declaring that "in its present situation, it will be a great nuisance" and, in the 1920s, there were calls to move the column to improve traffic flow. In 1981, the nearby station on the Tyne and Wear Metro was named after the monument. The pedestrianised area around the base is a popular meeting place and is used as a speakers' corner.

History

Context

Grey's Monument was erected in recognition of the tenure of Charles Grey as Prime Minister. Earl Grey represented Northumberland in Parliament from the age of 22. He was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1806, and later Leader of the House of Commons. In 1830 he was invited to form a government and became Prime Minister. It was during his time as Prime Minister that he passed the Reform Act 1832, which brought about constituency reform and extended the right to vote. Grey's Monument was constructed when Grey was still alive and had retired from politics.

Conception and planning

A monument to Earl Grey was first proposed by the Newcastle-based architect, John Green, in 1832. Green envisaged a statue in Northumberland Square, North Shields, depicting Grey in parliamentary robes, holding the Magna Carta. He sought public subscriptions for his scheme in the ''Newcastle Chronicle'' on 16 June 1832:

The proposal was initially met with enthusiasm, although some Reformers were hesitant to commemorate an individual, instead preferring to erect a monument to the cause of the Reform movement itself. Alternative sites for the monument were proposed, including Rimside Moor in Northumberland.

The eventual site of the monument in central Newcastle was chosen as part of a local improvement plan proposed by Richard Grainger. In his plan, Grainger proposed to erect a statue not of Grey, but of an idealised figure. However, in 1834, Earl Grey was proposed as the subject of the statue. A public meeting took place on 6 October, chaired by William Ord, "to take into consideration the propriety of entering into a subscription, for erecting in a public situation in his native county, a statue, or other memorial, to the memory of the Noble Earl". There was unanimous support for the monument and £500 was raised on the day. One of the subscribers to the final monument was Whig politician and Irish political leader Daniel O'Connell.

The final location of the monument was slow to be approved, due to indecision from the council. There was also some lack of approval of Earl Grey himself; he was not as popular as he had been around the time of the Great Reform Bill's passing, and after leaving politics in 1834 Grey had focussed on a quiet life outside of the public sphere. Plans for Grey's Monument were approved by Newcastle Town Council on 14 September 1836. In the same meeting, it was agreed that the location of the monument would be at the top of Upper Dean Street, which would be renamed "Grey Street". Councillor Charnley spoke about the location of the monument, saying:

Benjamin Green, John Green's son, designed the monument's column, which was to cost £1,600. The architects initially intended for the monument to be taller, but the height was limited by the amount of money raised via subscriptions. Edward Hodges Baily was commissioned to design the statue of the Earl which cost £700.

Construction and unveiling

Joseph Welch, who had previously built the Ouseburn Viaduct and Bellingham Bridge, was in charge of building the monument. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1837 by both John and Benjamin Green. A time capsule was buried at the time of the monument's construction. It contained a hermetically sealed glass bottle which contained a drawing of the structure, a collection of coins, local medals and tradesmen's tokens donated by John Ralph Fenwick, and a list of the monument's subscribers

Following the completion of the column on 11 August 1838, the Earl and Countess Grey visited Newcastle and were reported to have shown "evident signs of pleasure" when viewing the structure. On 24 August 1838, the statue of Earl Grey was placed on top of the column. It was transported from London by Halcyon, a trader based in Newcastle, and moved to its base from the quay of the River Tyne by two wagons. Church bells rang throughout the day to commemorate the occasion, although Earl Grey did not attend. In November 1838, the scaffolding encasing the monument was removed.

Design

Column

Measured from the bottom of the column to the top of the statue, Grey's Monument is tall. The fluted column is Roman Doric in style and is in diameter. The column was originally built from stone from the Pennines, later replaced with sandstone ashlar. A helical staircase with 164 steps leads to a viewing platform at the top of the monument, which is occasionally opened to the public. Four lamps were placed at the base of the monument in 1893, increasing to 12 in the 1920s. The railings and lamps have since been removed. A building survey conducted in 1995 concluded that the monument was built on shallow foundations. It also found that the column can sway up to in the wind.

Statue

At the top of the column there is a pedestal surrounded by railings which enclose the viewing platform. The statue of Earl Grey by E. H. Baily sits on top of the pedestal. The statue depicts a twice-life-size figure standing upright, clothed in robes of the Order of the Garter. It is made out of Portland stone and was originally coated in wax to protect it against the weather. In ''Public Sculpture of North-East England'', the expression of Earl Grey is described as "pensive". Baily also made 30 miniatures of the statue out of plaster, possibly intended as souvenirs.

During a thunderstorm on 25 July 1941, the head of the statue, which weighed around , was knocked off by a bolt of lightning and fell onto the tram lines below the monument. One of the statue's arms and a portion of the cloak were also damaged. The Newcastle Estate and Property Committee agreed that the statue would not be repaired until after the Second World War, but the head would be retained and restored. In 1947, sculptor Roger Hedley created a new head based on the preserved fragments of the original.

Inscriptions

The main inscription on the south side of the pedestal was added in 1854 and was most likely written by Sydney Smith. It was installed by the Red Barns Marble Works of Gibson Street, Newcastle.

On the opposite face is a later inscription from 1932, installed at the request of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 100 years after the passing of the Great Reform Act. The words of the inscription were written by Edward Grey.

Critical and public reception

After the monument was completed it received praise from contemporary artists and writers. A column in ''The Mirror of Literature, Amusement, and Instruction'' in 1838 wrote that the statue "is a faithful representation of the noble Lord,—and esteemed a fine imaginative work of art". Also in 1838, ''The Spectator'' described the statue as "equal to any of Chantry's ic. Writing in ''Bradshaw's Journal'' in 1842, Alex Falkner wrote that the statue, "when seen from the centre of the street, has a most commanding appearance". In 1867, the author T. Fordyce described the statue of Earl Grey as "a noble effort of genius" which reflected "the highest credit on its accomplished author, Mr. Baily".

The monument was not universally acclaimed and it received criticism which lasted into the latter half of the 19th century. After the column was erected in August 1838, '' The Newcastle Journal'' wrote "Whatever may be the character of the Column as a work of art, it is certain that in its present situation, it will be a great nuisance, and that at no distant day its removal to a less objectionable site will be called for by the public". In 1857, a writer local to Newcastle wrote "the monument to Earl Grey is, to my mind, a huge mistake; you place an aged nobleman, dressed in court costume, on a high pillar, and, without a hat upon his bald head, expose him to the pelting of every storm that Heaven sends". Public interest and awareness of Earl Grey also decreased into and during the 20th century. In the 1920s, there were calls from the Durham Branch of the Surveyors' Institution to remove and relocate the monument, due to its growing obstruction of the traffic.

Grey's Monument became a Grade I listed building on 14 June 1954. In the second half of the 20th century there were multiple calls (in 1982, 1994 and 1998) for the monument to be renovated, but these were dismissed due to the estimated cost and recognition that previous repairs had led to long-term damage by pollution. The monument lends its name to Monument Metro station, on the Tyne and Wear Metro, opened in 1981 and located directly underneath the monument. The pedestrianised area around the monument is a popular meeting place and is regarded as a speakers' corner.

See also

* Grade I listed buildings in Tyne and Wear

References

Notes

Citations

{{T&W places

1838 sculptures
1838 establishments in England
Buildings and structures completed in 1838
Tourist attractions in Newcastle upon Tyne
Outdoor sculptures in Newcastle upon Tyne
Monuments and memorials in Tyne and Wear
Grade I listed buildings in Tyne and Wear
Grade I listed monuments and memorials
Statues in England
John and Benjamin Green buildings and structures
Cultural depictions of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey
Sculptures of men in England
Cultural depictions of prime ministers of the United Kingdom