Manchester’s Statues - Queen Victoria
I’m on a mission to explain the origin of some of Manchester’s most prominent statues.
Today we looked at the history of the Queen Victoria statue that sits in the middle of Piccadilly Garden.
Today we looked at the history of the Queen Victoria statue that sits in the middle of Piccadilly Garden.
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NewsTranscript
00:00Hello and welcome to Manchester World. This is the second part of a series of explainers where
00:03I'll take a look at some of the most prominent statues in Manchester and explain a little bit
00:07about their history and why they're important to the city. Today we're looking at the Queen
00:11Victoria statue in Piccadilly Gardens. The statue was unveiled in 1901 just after the death of the
00:16monarch but was commissioned before that and the Queen actually sat for Onslow Ford, the sculptor,
00:20while he was creating it. The original plan had been for a marble monument but the Queen suggested
00:24that bronze may be better because of the impact that Manchester's smoky atmosphere could have on
00:28marble. The statue sees Victoria seated on a large throne holding a scepter and an orb with
00:32St George fighting a dragon sitting atop the throne. The statue was criticised heavily when
00:37it was revealed. The Westminster Review called it at once the most pretentious, the most incoherent
00:41and the most inept of any sculptural monument one has ever seen in England and in the song
00:45City Hog Goblins Markie Smith sings, so Queen Victoria is a large black slug in Piccadilly
00:50Manchester. Despite the criticism it stood now for 123 years in Piccadilly and has undergone
00:55extensive cleaning on a fair few occasions. Follow Manchester World for more. I'm Dirk Huston-Betts.