{Carved into the stone facing the road:}
Whittington Stone
Richard Whittington
Thrice Lord Mayor of London
1397 - Richard II
1406 - Henry IV
1420 - Henry V
Sheriff - in 1393
This stone was restored by W. Hillier 1935
{On a brass plaque screwed to the base to the north:}
1964 Whittington's Cat presented by Mr & Mrs Paul Crosfield, Donald Bisset and Friends.
{On a brass plaque screwed to the base to the south:}
Whittington Stone
Richard Whittington
Thrice Lord Mayor of London
1397 - Richard II
1406 - Henry IV
1420 - Henry V
Sheriff - in 1393
The stone was first erected in 1821 at which time memorials, other than statues, were rare. It was restored in 1935 and the cat was added in 1964.
When we first researched this memorial, years ago, we could not find the name of the sculptor of the cat, but now, 2013, Sue Sinton Smith contacts us via Facebook to say there were two: Anthony Southwell and Jonathan Kenworthy. And we see the listing entry confirms that. Thanks Sue, we are delighted to add this information at last.
This stone is, supposedly on the very spot where Dick heard the Bow bells ring out: "Turn again, Dick Whittington, thrice Lord Mayor of London". We hate to mention that Dick never was a poor tramp and that he must have had a very poor sense of direction to be returning from the City of London to his home in Gloucestershire by way of Highgate Hill.
There used to be a statue of Dick Whittington (who really was a Lord Mayor) very near here. Whittington built a “college” (almshouse and hospital) next door to St Michael Paternoster Royal in the City. In 1822 this was demolished and a new college was built in Highgate at the foot of Archway Road. A stone statue of him as a boy by Joseph Carew (1826), was erected on the front lawn. It appears to be sheer co-incidence that the chosen spot for the almshouses was so close to the Highgate Hill site. The almshouses were demolished in 1966 to make way for the widening of Archway Road. The Whittington Hospital remains, though much changed. We remember the almshouses (in unfashionable gothic) with affection but cannot remember the statue. The almshouses were built a third time in Felbridge near East Grinstead where they still provide charitable homes, run by The Charity of Sir Richard Whittington. The statue is, apparently, near the entrance.