The Queen Victoria Monument stands in the centre of

Hamilton Square Hamilton Square is a town square in Birkenhead, Wirral, England. The Georgian square, which was designed by Edinburgh architect James Gillespie Graham, has the most Grade I listed buildings outside London (after Trafalgar Square). It is named ...

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

, Wirral,

Merseyside Merseyside ( ) is a ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial and metropolitan county in North West England. It borders Lancashire to the north, Greater Manchester to the east, Cheshire to the south, the Wales, Welsh county of Flintshire across ...

, England. It is in the form of an Eleanor cross. The memorial was designed by

Edmund Kirby Edmund Kirby (8 April 1838 – 24 April 1920) was an English architect. He was born in Liverpool, and educated at Oscott College in Birmingham. He was articled to E. W. Pugin in London, then became an assistant to John Douglas in Ches ...

, and was unveiled in 1905. It is recorded in the

National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, ...

as a designated 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

Following the death of

Queen Victoria Victoria (Alexandrina Victoria; 24 May 1819 – 22 January 1901) was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland from 20 June 1837 until Death and state funeral of Queen Victoria, her death in January 1901. Her reign of 63 year ...

in 1901, a Victoria Memorial Committee was established in Birkenhead to make arrangements for a memorial to the queen. An open space was created in the centre of Hamilton Square in 1903 by Birkenhead Town Council. The committee then discussed the form of the memorial to stand in its centre. It had been hoped to have a monument in bronze, but the amount of money raised was inadequate to provide this, and it was decided that the monument should be in the form of an Eleanor cross. Eleanor crosses were erected by King Edward I in the late 13th century to commemorate the life of his wife,

Eleanor of Castile Eleanor of Castile (1241 – 28 November 1290) was Queen of England as the first wife of Edward I. She was educated at the Castilian court and also ruled as Countess of Ponthieu in her own right () from 1279. After diplomatic efforts to s ...

, and were erected on the sites where her coffin rested. The typical design of an Eleanor cross was that of a polygonal base on steps, surmounted by stages of reducing size. The lowest stage was solid, and the upper stages were open. The committee considered that this would be appropriate as a it would follow the design of a memorial to an admired queen. One of the members of the committee was the architect Edmund Kirby, who agreed to design the memorial free of charge. The identity of the sculptor is not recorded. Kirby had previously worked with Richard Boulton and Sons of

Cheltenham Cheltenham () is a historic spa town and borough adjacent to the Cotswolds in Gloucestershire, England. Cheltenham became known as a health and holiday spa town resort following the discovery of mineral springs in 1716, and claims to be the mo ...

, and it is possible that this was the responsible company. The monument was unveiled, before it was finished, by Charles Gatehouse, a local politician and a member of the committee, on 26 October 1905. It cost £1,400.

Description

The monument is constructed in

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 ...

from

Darley Dale Darley Dale, formerly Darley, is a town and civil parish in the Derbyshire Dales district of Derbyshire, England, with a population of 5,413. It lies north of Matlock, Derbyshire, Matlock, on the River Derwent, Derbyshire, River Derwent an ...

. The steps on which it stands, and the columns in the second and third stages are in

granite Granite ( ) is a coarse-grained (phanerite, phaneritic) intrusive rock, intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly coo ...

from

Newry Newry (; ) is a City status in Ireland, city in Northern Ireland, standing on the Newry River, Clanrye river in counties County Down, Down and County Armagh, Armagh. It is near Republic of Ireland–United Kingdom border, the border with the ...

. The monument stands about high. It is in

Gothic Gothic or Gothics may refer to: People and languages *Goths or Gothic people, a Germanic people **Gothic language, an extinct East Germanic language spoken by the Goths **Gothic alphabet, an alphabet used to write the Gothic language ** Gothic ( ...

style. Each stage of the monument is octagonal. It stands on five steps, and consists of four stages, each stage being narrower than the stage below. The lowest stage is solid, and each side has a

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 ...

canopy Canopy may refer to: Plants * Canopy (biology), aboveground portion of plant community or crop (including forests) * Canopy (grape), aboveground portion of grapes Religion and ceremonies * Baldachin or canopy of state, typically placed over an a ...

. In the front is an inscription reading as follows. Each of the other sides contains a coat of arms in relief, and its associated motto. In clockwise order from the front these are the arms and mottoes of Birkenhead,

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 ...

, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, and the Royal arms. The middle two stages of the monument are open, with arcades and granite columns, and the top stage consists of a

crocket A crocket (or croquet) is a small, independent decorative element common in Gothic architecture. The name derives from the diminutive of the Old French ''croc'', meaning "hook", due to the resemblance of a crocket to a bishop's Shepherd's crook, ...

ed spire surmounted by a crown

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 ...

Appraisal

The memorial was designated a Grade II listed building on 28 March 1974. Grade II is the lowest of the three grades of listing and is applied to "buildings of national importance and special interest".

Notes and references

Notes Citations Sources * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Birkenhead, Queen Victoria Monument Queen Victoria Monument Grade II listed buildings in Merseyside Buildings and structures completed in 1905 Gothic Revival architecture in Merseyside Monuments and memorials to Queen Victoria Monuments and memorials in Merseyside Grade II listed monuments and memorials 1905 establishments in England

History

Description

Appraisal

See also

Notes and references