FIRST - Large Statue Cast In One Piece - Leeds, UK - First of its Kind on Waymarking.com

SIR ROBERT PEEL'S STATUE

Sir Robert Peel was a popular Prime Minister and his death in 1850 'caused the most intense and widespread grief throughout the kingdom'. A month after his death, a Leeds borough meeting, appointed a committee to raise a public subscription for a statue of Sir Robert Peel. Lists were posted in banks, factories, and the public newsroom, and a total of £1500 guineas was raised in subscriptions ranging from £100 to 1 penny. A competition for the commission was won by William Behnes. It was suggested by the Art Journal that the statue should be sculpted in antique style, with Sir Robert wearing a toga, but the town council wanted the statue in modern dress. The statue is eight feet six inches in height and stands on a pedestal of Scottish granite. It shows Sir Robert in a typical pose, addressing the House of Commons. The bronze figure was cast by F. Robinson of the Statue Foundry, Pimlico, London, and was the FIRST large statue to be cast in one piece in Britain. The statue was erected in front of the Post Office in Park Row, and the inauguration ceremony took place at noon on the 20th August 1852 in front of a large crowd. In the 1890s the statue was moved to Victoria Square, in front of the Town Hall. It was moved again in 1937 to Woodhouse Moor.

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