Victoria Memorial

The Victoria Memorial is a sculpture dedicated to Queen Victoria, sculpted by Sir Thomas Brock in London, placed at the centre of Queen's Gardens in front of Buckingham Palace.

Victoria Memorial
Credit: LordHarris

The Memorial was dedicated in 1911 by George V and his first cousin, Wilhelm II of Germany, the two senior grandsons of Victoria. The sculptor was Sir Thomas Brock. It was completed with the installation of the final bronze statues in 1924. They were cast at Burton’s Foundry, Thames Ditton.

The surround was constructed by the architect Sir Aston Webb, from 2,300 tons of white marble. It is a Grade I listed building.

It has a large statue of Queen Victoria facing north-eastwards towards The Mall. The other sides of the monument feature dark patinated bronze statues of the Angel of Justice (facing north-westwards toward Green Park), the Angel of Truth (facing south-eastwards) and Charity facing Buckingham Palace. On the pinnacle is a statue of unclear entitlement and arguably relating both to 'Peace' and to 'Victory', with two seated figures (the subsidiary figures were given by the people of New Zealand).

The whole sculptural programme has a nautical theme, much like the rest of The Mall (Admiralty Arch, for example). This can be seen in the mermaids, mermen and the hippogriff, all of which are suggestive of the United Kingdom's naval power.

On 4 June 2012, the memorial formed the centrepiece of the stage for Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee Concert. It also held "Our Greatest Team Parade" on 10 September 2012.

There is a similar memorial to her husband, Albert, the Prince Consort outside the Royal Albert Hall.

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CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE LOCALITY

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LATEST LONDON-WIDE CONTRIBUTIONS TO THE PROJECT

Charles Black Middle Row, W10 Added: 24 May 2024 12:54 GMT	Middle Row, W10 Middle Row was notable for its bus garage, home of the number 7. Reply
Farm Place, W8 Added: 2 May 2024 16:14 GMT	Farm Place, W8 The previous name of Farm Place was Ernest St (no A) Reply
Tony Whipple Frank Whipple Place, E14 Added: 16 Apr 2024 21:35 GMT	Frank Whipple Place, E14 Frank was my great-uncle, I’d often be ’babysat’ by Peggy while Nan and Dad went to the pub. Peggy was a marvel, so full of life. My Dad and Frank didn’t agree on most politics but everyone in the family is proud of him. A genuinely nice, knowledgable bloke. One of a kind. Reply
Theresa Penney Whites Row, E1 Added: 16 Apr 2024 18:08 GMT	1 Whites Row My 2 x great grandparents and his family lived here according to the 1841 census. They were Dutch Ashkenazi Jews born in Amsterdam at the beginning of the 19th century but all their children were born in Spitalfields. Reply
Wendy The Polygon Added: 22 Mar 2024 15:33 GMT	Polygon Buildings Following the demolition of the Polygon, and prior to the construction of Oakshott Court in 1974, 4 tenement type blocks of flats were built on the site at Clarendon Sq/Phoenix Rd called Polygon Buildings. These were primarily for people working for the Midland Railway and subsequently British Rail. My family lived for 5 years in Block C in the 1950s. It seems that very few photos exist of these buildings. Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:42 GMT	Road construction and houses completed New Charleville Circus road layout shown on Stanford’s Library Map Of London And Its Suburbs 1879 with access via West Hill only. Plans showing street numbering were recorded in 1888 so we can concluded the houses in Charleville Circus were built by this date. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Steve Charleville Circus, SE26 Added: 19 Mar 2024 08:04 GMT	Charleville Circus, Sydenham: One Place Study (OPS) One Place Study’s (OPS) are a recent innovation to research and record historical facts/events/people focused on a single place �’ building, street, town etc. I have created an open access OPS of Charleville Circus on WikiTree that has over a million members across the globe working on a single family tree for everyone to enjoy, for free, forever. Source: Charleville Circus, Sydenham, London Reply
Charles Hornsey Rise, N19 Added: 8 Mar 2024 20:45 GMT	My House I want to know who lived in my house in the 1860’s. Reply

LOCAL PHOTOS

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Get Back Credit: Stable Diffusion TUM image id: 1675076090 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Wood engraving showing mothers, with their children, exercising at Tothill Fields Prison Credit: Wiki Commons TUM image id: 1504357431 Licence:	Exterior of the memorial in 2013. Credit: Tim Rademacher TUM image id: 1515433432 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Piccadilly Theatre (2007) Credit: Turquoisefish TUM image id: 1556885906 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The 52 bus TUM image id: 1556876554 Licence:
The Marie Antoinette Suite at the Ritz Hotel, Piccadilly (1914) Credit: Architectural Record Company, New York TUM image id: 1657550221 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Truefitt & Hill products Truefitt & Hill is the oldest barbershop in the world, as certified by Guinness Book of World Records in April 2000. Truefitt was established in 1805 by William Francis Truefitt. Truefitt styled himself as hairdresser to the British Royal Court and the firm received their first Royal Warrant from King George III. In 1911, Edwin Hill set up a barber shop on Old Bond Street, also near the royal neighbourhoods in London and it was to this address H.P. Truefitt (William’s nephew) moved in 1935 to create Truefitt & Hill. The present location of Truefitt & Hill at 71 St James’s Street, was taken up in 1994. Credit: Wiki Commons/psd TUM image id: 1677764605 Licence:	A Friday Evening Discourse at the Royal Institution; Sir James Dewar on Liquid Hydrogen (1904) Credit: Henry Jamyn Brooks TUM image id: 1661785947 Licence:	’The Café Royal’ (1911) The huge variety of public leisure interiors – cafés, music halls and clubs among them – depicted by artists linked to the Camden Town Group reveal their enthusiasm for and direct engagement with the new entertainment and refreshment spaces of modern urban life. The leisure districts of early twentieth-century central London were safer, better lit and more easily accessible than they had been in the 1890s, and the expansion of the Underground network and the rise in motorised travel allowed many more people the opportunity to enjoy a daytrip to the city. Writing in 1902, the journalist George Sims imagined the ideal metropolitan excursion in an article entitled ‘A Country Cousin’s Day in Town’. Beginning with a trip to Madame Tussaud’s, a ride to Tower Hill on the Metropolitan Railway, and a refreshment stop at Pimm’s luncheon counter, the morning would end with a stroll around the Royal Aquarium, a visit to St James’s Hall in Piccadilly and to the nearby Egyptian Hall. The evening would commence with dinner in the artists’ room at Pagani’s, a visit to the ‘poetic and beautifully draped’ ballet at the Alhambra Theatre, a ‘long glass of lager’ in the continental style at the cosmopolitan Hotel de L’Europe with its Parisian inspired décor, and a visit to the latest moving picture show at the Palace Theatre. After catching the end of the ballet at the Empire, the evening would draw to a close with a peep into the ‘luxurious Criterion bar and American café’, a glance at the seafood display in the window of Scott’s, and a leisurely nightcap at the Café Royal ‘seated comfortably on a luxurious lounge’. Credit: Charles Ginner (1878–1952) TUM image id: 9532667 Licence:	Royal Academy of Arts, Burlington House, Piccadilly Credit: Simon Gunzinger TUM image id: 1653912771 Licence:
London Library, 14 St James’s Square. The London Library is a self-supporting, independent institution. It is a registered charity whose sole aim is the advancement of education, learning and knowledge. The adjacent building (13 St James’s Square) is the High Commission of Cyprus. Credit: Wiki Commons/GrindtXX TUM image id: 1660307621 Licence: CC BY 2.0	Albany Courtyard leads to The Albany Credit: Wiki Commons/Ham TUM image id: 1657546568 Licence: CC BY 2.0	The sign for the "Stage Door", formerly a pub in Allington Street, SW1 Credit: GoArt/The Underground Map TUM image id: 1593785741 Licence:	Wellington Arch photographed on 10 January 2017. Wellington Arch was built as an original entrance to Buckingham Palace, later becoming a victory arch proclaiming Wellington’s defeat of Napoleon. Crowned by the largest bronze sculpture in Europe, it depicts the Angel of Peace descending on the ’Quadriga’ - or four-horsed chariot - of War. The pathway that runs underneath the arch has a formal name - Apsley Way. Credit: The Underground Map TUM image id: 1621590589 Licence:	Musicians waiting for work on Archer Street. In the twentieth century, Archer Street became known as a meeting point for West End musicians. The street became this hub due to its proximity to workplaces (nearby theatres and clubs) and places to drink and socialise. The Apollo and The Lyric both had stage doors which opened onto the street. Meanwhile, the Musicians’ Union London Branch was also here - musicians would go there between a matinee and an evening performance in the many theatres nearby, or to find a deputy, or just to meet friends and colleagues. Credit: Musicians Union TUM image id: 1550100181 Licence: