Page:Notes and Queries - Series 10 - Volume 10.djvu/355

 10 s. x. OCT. 10, loos.] NOTES AND QUERIES.

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obliterated characters over the doorway. The statue is still in what was probably its original position, viz., on the front of the building, between the windows on the first floor. The school, I hear, is to be shortly demolished, prior to re-erection ; but whether on the same or another site I could not ascertain. At present it is in a very bad state, the greater part of the windows being broken. The date 1818 appears on the front.

With reference to the new " Paul's Cross " (ante, p. 123), a short account of what is stated to be " Mr. Reginald Blom- field's fine design," together with an illus- tration, appeared in The Daily Graphic of Saturday, 22 August. The design consists of a raised platform, enclosed by a baluster wall of Portland stone and black marble standing on three steps. On three sides of the enclosure are bronze commemoration panels. In the fourth side is a bronze gate giving access to steps leading up to the platform, from which open-air preaching is possible on three sides. In the centre is a lofty pedestal with escutcheons on the panels and moulded trusses at the angles, supporting four cherubs holding swags, which surround the base of the column. The column is of the Doric order, supporting a short pedestal, on which is a bronze figure of St. Paul, 9 ft. high. With the exception of the black marble and bronze figures, the material to be used is Portland stone. The dimensions are as follows : Diameter of enclosing wall, out to out, 24 ft. Height from pavement level to under side of base of column, 17 ft. 6 in. Total height of monument from pavement to top of bronze figure, 52 ft. The figure and ornament have been modelled by Mr. Bertram Mac- Kennal.

In what was once Beaufort Buildings, Strand, is "a gilt statue of Count Peter of Savoy, over the entrance of the modern Savoy Hotel, which rises on the site of Count Peter's former palace." These particulars are from a supplement to 'The Sphere of 26 May, 1906, in which a coloured illustra- tion will be found.

The statue of Charles II., once in the centre of Soho Square, seems to have been the crowning ornament of a fountain : " On a high pedestal is his Majesty's statue, and at his feet lie the representatives of the four principal rivers in England, Thames, Trent, Humber, and Severn, with subscriptions under each." I give this on the authority of


 * Anglise Notitia,' 1694. In 1839 Allen in his


 * History of London ' stated : " They are now

in a most wretchedly mutilated state, and the inscriptions on the base of the pedestal are quite illegible." On the authority of The Builder, 29 July, 1876, it can be stated that this statue was remoyed in the summer of that year to the grounds of Mr. Frederick Goodall, R.A., at Harrow Weald, and an octagonal tool-house erected on the site. See Wheatley's ' London, Past and Present,' vol. iii. p. 267.

The statue of the Duke of Cumberland once in Cavendish Square " was taken down in 1868, in order, as was understood, to be repaired or recast " ; but inquiries have failed to trace that either the one or the other was done. The statue was the work of John Cheere.

With reference to the statue of George IV. at Battle Bridge (King's Cross), Wheatley in ' London, Past and Present,' vol. i. p. 130, says it was erected in 1836 by Stephen Geary,

"a most execrable performance, cleverly burlesqued by Cruikshank, and not iinfairly represented by Pugin in his amusing ' Contrasts. The statue was taken down in 1845, deposited in a mason's yard, and broken up."

There are still a few additions to be made to the lists already given.

In the centre of the ground in front of Wesley's Chapel in City Road is a statue to John Wesley, the founder of Methodism. It is the work of the late Adams-Acton. The statue stands on a pedestal of polished red granite, which is in turn placed on a large block of stone. Upon the latter is simply the name " Wesley " in large letters. At the base of the granite pedestal is inscribed " Erected with funds collected | by the Children of Methodism." Cast in the base of the statue itself are the words, " The World is my parish," the whole being a very suitable memorial, plain and unostentatious, of this notable Englishman. It was un- veiled on 2 March, 1891, by the Rev. Dr. Moulton, then President of the Con- ference, during the celebration of the cen- tenary of Wesley's death. Dean Farrar, the Right Hon. H. H. Fowler, M.P. (now Viscount Wolverhampton), the Earl of Carlisle, the Rev. Stopford Brooke, the Rev. H. Price Hughes, and many other representative men were present.

The two porches (east and west) of St. Margaret's Church, Westminster, are virtually to be classed among our London memorials. The former was built by Lady Sherbrooke as a memorial of her late husband Lord Sherbrooke (Robert Lowe, M.P.), of whom it contains a life-like bust.