PUBLIC ART IN SHEFFIELD
artist
not known
'Memorial to Thomas Wiley', 1853 re-sited 1879
Abbeydale Road South
stone
[Listed Building: Grade II]
(Almshouse is also a Grade II listed building) (A-Z p.121 2G)
Description:
A square tower in a Gothic design with a crowning spire. A plaque on the
facade facing the road records the details given below. The base of the
monument is 223 cm square.
Commission:
Sheffield and Rotherham Licensed Victuallers Association. Originally erected
in Grimesthorpe in 1853 and moved to its present location in 1879, when
the surrounding fields were built upon for industrial premises making living
conditions difficult for the residents . The Association purchased five
and a half acres of land and two existing houses on this site for the cost
of £6,000. The Asylum buildings were erected for about another £6,000
in 1878 and consist of twelve houses with a central hall for association
meetings and a library. [1]
Inscription:
"THIS MONUMENT
WAS ERECTED TO THE MEMORY
OF THE LATE
ALDERMAN THOMAS WILEY,
BY THE VOLUNTARY SUBSCRIPTIONS OF THE
MEMBERS AND FRIENDS OF THE SHEFFIELD
AND ROTHERHAM LICENSED VICTUALLERS
ASSOCIATION, TO RECORD THEIR RESPECT AND
ESTEEM FOR HIS MUNIFICENT DONATIONS TO
THEIR ASYLUM. HE BEING THE FIRST DONOR TO
THIS INSTITUTION. AND BY HIS SPIRITED
EXAMPLE CAUSING A NUMBER OF LIBERAL
AND BENEVOLENT GENTLEMEN TO SUBSCRIBE
SUFFICIENT FUNDS TO ERECT THE
ADJACENT BUILDINGS.
ANNO DOMINE 1853
THIS MONUMENT WAS REMOVED FROM THE
OLD INSTITUTION AT GRIMESTHORPE TO ITS
PRESENT SITE ON THE COMPLETION OF
THESE BUILDINGS 1879."
Comment:
Thomas Wiley was an alderman, and wine and spirit merchant [2]
References:
[1] Illustrated Guide to Sheffield by Pawson
and Brailsford, 1879. p167
[2] A list supplied by Sheffield District Council
