Public Art Research Archive, Sheffield Hallam University
PUBLIC ART IN SHEFFIELD

Henry Lane
Crimea Monument, 1863
Botanical Gardens
stone

This statue has now been removed as part of the refurbishment of the Botanical Gardens


Location:
Botanical Gardens. The piece was originally at Moorhead, but was moved in 1961 or 1957 (accounts differ), and the central granite column not re-erected, so that the statue now stands on top of the original base only. Individual blocks from the column can be found in Hammond Street as part of a children’s playarea. The stone lions on the original were too badly weathered to be installed in the Botanical Gardens but two moulds have been made from them by Chris Boulton. These were cast in bronze and can be found in Castle Square. The capitol from the column has not yet been reused in the city. (A-Z p98 4B)

[Update: 2005] The statue has now been removed during the refurbishment of the Botanical Gardens (2003 - 2005). It will not be sited here again. The plan for the Botanical Gardens was to restore the view from the glasshouses that was created in the original gardens. This has now been achieved. The Crimea Monument is in store and, while it is intended to relocate it elsewhere in Sheffield, a suitable site has yet to be confirmed.

Description:
Seated figure of Queen Victoria depicted as “Honour” on a square stone base. This was made by Lane, a Birmingham based sculptor. The rest of the monument was designed by George Goldie. The figure’s left hand, holding a laurel wreath, is missing.
The original piece stood on its granite column as early photographs show; surrounded at its base by railings, a cannon, a circular wall to one side topped by stone lions, and the entrance to public conveniences which were below the surface of the road.
The inscription on the base reads:
THIS MONUMENT IN
MEMORY OF THOSE
NATIVES OF SHEFFIELD
WHO FELL IN THE WAR
IN THE CRIMEA
WAS ERECTED BY PUBLIC
SUBSCRIPTION AD 1863

Commission:
Public subscription, erected 1863. Florence Nightingale was apparently one of the subscribers.

Comment:
It is interesting to compare the statue now with older photographs showing it in its original site and state.

Acknowledgements:
Some of this information has come from 'The Unseen the Unsightly and the Amusing in Sheffield' by J. Edward Vickers (1997) Hallamshire Press and from CECTAL, University of Sheffield.



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Last updated September 5, 2006