James Watt Statue – Manchester, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 53° 28.877 W 002° 14.198
30U E 550657 N 5926083
A statue of the famous Scottish inventor whose improvements to steam engines helped kick start the Industrial Revolution. It was erected in 1857 and is a copy of a statue originally erected in Westminster Abbey in 1825.
Waymark Code: WMDK8X
Location: North West England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 01/24/2012
Views: 2
James Watt is sometimes credited with inventing the steam engine. However he did not invent them, but made them significantly more efficient. His design improvements made them much more economic to run and steam engines soon became widely used.
He introduced the concept of measuring power based on horsepower and the SI unit of power the watt was named after him.
In the 1850s the city of Manchester was laying out a new esplanade in front of the Royal Infirmary and wanted to have sculptures placed there. Following a suggestion from the Manchester Literary and Philosophical Society it was decided that they would erect a statue to honour James Watt.
Manchester was one of the first major industrial cities in the world. They wanted to recognise Watt’s contribution to their success as a city even though he had no direct connection with the city.
In order to save costs it was decided to copy an existing marble statue of Watt that existed in Westminster Abbey and had been installed there in 1825. The original statue was sculpted by Sir Francis Chantrey and cost £6000
William Theed made the copy of the original statue and it was then cast in bronze by Robinson and Cottam of Pimlico in London. James Watt had actually produced a machine that enabled copies of sculptures to be made, but it is not known whether Theed used it. This copy of the statue cost less than £1000, a sixth of the cost of the original. http://www.makingthemodernworld.org.uk/stories/the_age_of_the_engineer/03.ST.03/?scene=5&tv=true
The statue shows Watt seated on a plinth with his back to Piccadilly Gardens. He has dividers in his right hand taking measurements from a drawing of a steam engine on his lap. It is 2.1 metres high on a 2.4 metre high stone pedestal and was unveiled on 26th June 1857.
There have been many changes in the area, the hospital was demolished in 1909, and then the public square now known as Piccadilly Gardens was renovated and re-laid in 2001.
The statue is now protected as a listed building, the ENGLISH HERITAGE BUILDING ID IS 1246946. http://list.english-heritage.org.uk/resultsingle.aspx?uid=1246946
In 1960 the original statue was moved from Westminster Abbey to the Scottish National Portrait Gallery in Edinburgh.
Where is original located?: Scottish National Portrait Gallery, Edinburgh
Where is this replica located?: Piccadilly Gardens, Manchester
Who created the original?: Sir Francis Chantrey
Internet Link about Original: http://www.westminster-abbey.org/our-history/people/james-watt
Year Original was Created (approx. ok): 1825
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Visit Instructions:
Post at least one photo of the replica.