A statue of King Edward the Confessor atop the elegant Westminster Scholars War Memorial near Westminster School and Westminster Abbey.
From Wikipedia: (
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"The Westminster Scholars War Memorial, also known as the Crimea and Indian Mutiny Memorial, is an 1861 memorial designed by George Gilbert Scott, installed near Westminster Abbey in Broad Sanctuary, London, United Kingdom.
Description
The statue at the top, carved by J. R. Clayton, depicts St George slaying the dragon. It also features statues of St Edward the Confessor, Henry III, Elizabeth I and Queen Victoria, carved by J. Birnie Philip. Its base is flanked by four lions. An inscription on the memorial's north side reads,
To the memory of those educated at Westminster School who died in the Russian and Indian wars A.D.1854–1859 on the field of battle or from wounds or sickness, some in early youth, some full of years and honours but who all alike gave their lives for their country. This column was erected by their old schoolfellows in token of sorrow for their loss and of pride in their valour and in full assurance that the remembrance of their heroism in life and death will inspire their successors at Westminster with the same courage and self-devotion.
Its south side displays the text
Field Marshal Lord Raglan G.C.B. Commander in Chief 1854–1855. / Lieutenant General Frederick Markham, C.B. 2nd division / Russian War 1854–1856.
An inscription on its west side reads,
Captain Augustus Frederick Kynaston, R.N., C.B. / Major Augustus Saltren Willett, 17th Lancers / Captain Frederick Henry Dymock, 95th Regiment / Lieutenant Reginald Hugh Somerville, 23rd Fusiliers / Lieutenant William Walker Jordan, 34th Regiment / Lieutenant Richard Borough, Rifle Brigade / Midshipman Charles Madan, HMS Sanspareil / Frederick Henty, Commissariat Department / Russian War 1854–1856.
The opposite (east) side's inscription says,
General Sir William Barnard, G.C.B. Commander in Chief 1857 / Major John Waterfield, 38th Bengal Native Infantry / Major Walter Robert Prout, 56th Bengal Native Infantry / Captain Wilson Henry Jones, H.M 13th Light Infantry / Captain Louis Henry Bedford, H.M. 37th Regiment / Captain William Thornton Phillimore, 10th Bengal Native Infantry / Lieutenant Henry Bingham, H.M. 90th Regiment / Lieutenant Lovick Emilius Cooper, H.M. Rifle Brigade / Cornet William George Hawtrey Bankes, H.M. 7th Hussars, V.C. / Indian War 1857–1858."
King Edward the Confessor is carved in Portland stone set on a column of red granite itself set on an engraved base of Portland stone, as described above. He is seated on what appears to be a throne. He is wearing royal robes and a crown, denoting his status as King of England. He holds a scepter (symbol of the Monarchy) in his left hand, resting its base on his right leg and its top om his right shoulder. His left arm is bent at the elbow with his palm facing outward, as if he is offering someone absolution or a royal blessing. He must be about 2x life size, since he is so high up yet can be recognized and details discerned.
From Britannia.com, more on Edward the Confessor: (
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"Edward III, Confessor
1042-66 AD
The penultimate Anglo-Saxon king, Edward was the oldest son of Æthelred II and Emma. He had gone to Normandy in 1013, when his father and mother had fled from England. He stayed there during the reign of Canute and, at his death in 1035, led an abortive attempt to capture the crown for himself. He was recalled, for some reason, to the court of Hardicanute, his half-brother.
Canute had placed the local control of the shires into the hands of several powerful earls: Leofric of Mercia (Lady Godiva's husband), Siward of Northumbria and Godwin of Wessex, the most formidable of all. Through Godwin's influence, Edward took the throne at the untimely death of Hardicanute in 1042. In 1045, he married Godwin's only daughter, Edith.
Resulting from the connections made during Edward's years in Normandy, he surrounded himself with his Norman favorites and was unduly influenced by them. This Norman "affinity" produced great displeasure among the Saxon nobles. The anti-Norman faction was led by (who else?) Godwin of Wessex and his son, Harold Godwinsson, took every available opportunity to undermine the kings favorites. Edward sought to revenge himself on Godwin by insulting his own wife and Godwin's daughter, Edith, and confining her to the monastery of Wherwell. Disputes also arose over the issue of royal patronage and Edward's inclination to reward his Norman friends.
A Norman, Robert Champart, who had been Bishop of London, was made Archbishop of Canterbury by Edward in 1051, a promotion that displeased Godwin immensely. The Godwins were banished from the kingdom after staging an unsuccessful rebellion against the king but returned, landing an invasionary force in the south of England in 1052. They received great popular support, and in the face of this, the king was forced to restore the Godwins to favor in 1053.
Edward's greatest achievement was the construction of a new cathedral, where virtually all English monarchs from William the Conqueror onward would be crowned. It was determined that the minster should not be built in London, and so a place was found to the west of the city (hence "Westminster"). The new church was consecrated at Christmas, 1065, but Edward could not attend due to illness.
On his deathbed, Edward named Harold as his successor, instead of the legitimate heir, his grandson, Edgar the Ætheling. The question of succession had been an issue for some years and remained unsettled at Edward's death in January, 1066. It was neatly resolved, however, by William the Conqueror, just nine months later.
There is some question as to what kind of person Edward was. After his death, he was the object of a religious cult and was canonized in 1161, but that could be viewed as a strictly political move. Some say, probably correctly, that he was a weak, but violent man and that his reputation for saintliness was overstated, possibly a sham perpetrated by the monks of Westminster in the twelfth century. Others seem to think that he was deeply religious man and a patient and peaceable ruler."