The statue of Queen Victoria is located on the façade of the Grade II* listed Town Hall on High Street in Congleton.
The description of the building given by Historic England reads as follows;
"1864-6. Architect, E.W. Goodwin. Built of stone in Gothic style. 2 main storeys plus dormers in slated roof. Arcaded ground storey. Moulded arches and colonnettes to 1st storey windows. Central tower with battlements and pyramidal roof in two stages separated by clock. 3 statues to front with carved supports and hoods. Interior has exposed stone walls. Principal rooms altered." Source: (
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The present town hall building was designed by the architect E.W Godwin in 1864. It is built in Victorian Gothic Style and was completed in 1866. The building has a fine assembly hall with a hammer-beam roof and a gallery in the upper storey.
The statues of Queen Victoria, Henry de Lacy and Edward I were set over the frontage but after becoming badly weathered only the statue of Queen Victoria remains as the others were removed for safety reasons during renovations of the building.
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"Queen Victoria, in full Alexandrina Victoria of Kent, (born May 24, 1819, Kensington Palace, London, England—died January 22, 1901, Osborne, near Cowes, Isle of Wight). She was Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland (1837–1901) and Empress of India (1876–1901). She was the last of the house of Hanover and gave her name to an era, the Victorian Age.
During her reign the British monarchy took on its modern ceremonial character. She and her husband, Prince Consort Albert of Saxe-Coburg-Gotha, had nine children, through whose marriages were descended many of the royal families of Europe." Source: (
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"Victoria had a gift for drawing and painting; educated by a governess at home, she was a natural diarist and kept a regular journal throughout her life. On William IV's death in 1837, she became Queen at the age of 18.
Victoria and her family travelled and were seen on an unprecedented scale, thanks to transport improvements and other technical changes such as the spread of newspapers and the invention of photography. Victoria was the first reigning monarch to use trains - she made her first train journey in 1842.
Victoria continued her duties to the end - including an official visit to Dublin in 1900. The Boer War in South Africa overshadowed the end of her reign. As in the Crimean War nearly half a century earlier, Victoria reviewed her troops and visited hospitals; she remained undaunted by British reverses during the campaign: 'We are not interested in the possibilities of defeat; they do not exist.'
Victoria died at Osborne House on the Isle of Wight, on 22nd January 1901 after a reign which lasted almost 64 years, then the longest in British history. Her son, Edward VII succeeded her.
She was buried at Windsor beside Prince Albert, in the Frogmore Royal Mausoleum, which she had built for their final resting place."
Above the Mausoleum door are inscribed Victoria's words:
"Farewell best beloved, here at last I shall rest with thee, with thee in Christ I shall rise again"
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