Peers Memorial is in St Peter's Square,

Ruthin Ruthin ( ; ) is a market town and community in Denbighshire, Wales, in the south of the Vale of Clwyd. The town, castle and St Peter's Square lie on a hill, skirted by villages such as Pwllglas and Rhewl. The name comes from the Welsh ''rhud ...

Denbighshire Denbighshire ( ; ) is a county in the north-east of Wales. It borders the Irish Sea to the north, Flintshire to the east, Wrexham to the southeast, Powys to the south, and Gwynedd and Conwy to the west. Rhyl is the largest town, and Ruthi ...

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

. It is designated by

Cadw (, a Welsh verbal noun meaning "keeping/preserving") is the historic environment service of the Welsh Government and part of the Tourism and Culture group. works to protect the historic buildings and structures, the landscapes and heritage ...

as a Grade II

listed building 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 ...

History

The memorial stands on the site of a previous town hall, which was built in 1663 and demolished in 1863. It was constructed in 1883 to commemorate Joseph Peers JP during his lifetime, and was designed by the

Chester Chester is a cathedral city in Cheshire, England, on the River Dee, Wales, River Dee, close to the England–Wales border. With a built-up area population of 92,760 in 2021, it is the most populous settlement in the borough of Cheshire West an ...

architect John Douglas.

Architecture

The structure consists of a combined clock tower, horse trough and drinking fountain that incorporates Jacobean motifs. It is built in three stages, each stage being narrower than the one below. The whole structure is in stone; the lowest stage is in grey stone with red

sandstone Sandstone is a Clastic rock#Sedimentary clastic rocks, clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of grain size, sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate mineral, silicate grains, Cementation (geology), cemented together by another mineral. Sand ...

bands, and the two upper stages are in yellow sandstone with red sandstone bands. At each corner is a

buttress A buttress is an architectural structure built against or projecting from a wall which serves to support or reinforce the wall. Buttresses are fairly common on more ancient (typically Gothic) buildings, as a means of providing support to act ...

which includes a panel, and is surmounted by a

pinnacle A pinnacle is an architectural element originally forming the cap or crown of a buttress or small turret, but afterwards used on parapets at the corners of towers and in many other situations. The pinnacle looks like a small spire. It was main ...

with a

finial A finial () or hip-knob is an element marking the top or end of some object, often formed to be a decorative feature. In architecture, it is a small decorative device, employed to emphasize the Apex (geometry), apex of a dome, spire, tower, roo ...

. The front of the memorial faces south. The lowest stage of the front face includes an arch with a water spout directed towards a water trough; at the rear there are two curved steps leading to a door. At the northwest angle is a small stone basin, while on the east and west sides there are low stone seats. In the middle stage, there are panels on the front and the rear. The panel on the front contains the bust of a man, and in the panel on the rear is an inscription commemorating Joseph Peers. On the east and west sides of this stage are buttresses supporting statues. The top stage has clock faces under shaped

gable A gable is the generally triangular portion of a wall between the edges of intersecting roof pitches. The shape of the gable and how it is detailed depends on the structural system used, which reflects climate, material availability, and aesth ...

s at the front and the rear, while on the other sides there are

lancet window A lancet window is a tall, narrow window with a sharp pointed arch at its top. This arch may or may not be a steep lancet arch (in which the compass centres for drawing the arch fall outside the opening). It acquired the "lancet" name from its rese ...

s, also under gables. There are ball finials at each corner at the top of the memorial, and on the apex is another ball finial surmounted by a

weather vane A wind vane, weather vane, or weathercock is an instrument used for showing the direction of the wind. It is typically used as an architectural ornament to the highest point of a building. The word ''vane'' comes from the Old English word , m ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Ruthin, Peers Memorial 1883 establishments in Wales Buildings and structures completed in 1883 Grade II listed buildings in Ruthin Grade II listed monuments and memorials in Wales John Douglas buildings Monuments and memorials in Denbighshire

History

Architecture

See also

References