HC Deb 09 August 1883 vol 282 cc2067-9
SIR HENRY HOLLAND (for Mr. R. H. PAGET)

asked the First Commissioner of Works, If it is contemplated to remove the Wellington Statue to the site provisionally selected near the Horse Guards; and, if, before incurring the expense of such removal, he will, in the interests of Art, be good enough to consider the advisability of having it recast and remodelled?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

Sir, the House will recollect that a few days ago I informed them that I lead invited the Committee, who had advised the removal of the statue of the Duke of Wellington to the site in front of the Horse Guards, to reconsider the questions, with the experience of the model which has recently been placed there. The Committee have done so, and have made the following Report:— The Committee, appointed to consider the question of how best to deal with the statue of the late Duke of Wellington, have now had the advantage of seeing a model of the colossal figure erected upon the site recommended by them in St. James's Park, opposite to the Horse Guards. This site was only selected by them under the conviction that, having regard to the huge size of the statue, and to the fact that, when raised upon a suitable pedestal, it would, in its present position, overtop and crush all its surroundings, it was impossible to retain it in the neighbourhood of Apsley House. They felt strongly, however, that it was only on grounds of extreme urgency that it would be justifiable to separate the monument raised to the Great Duke from a spot which it had occupied for nearly 40 years in the immediate vicinity of the house given to him by the nation. Reluctantly, therefore, they recommended its removal, in the hope that, in the new position (for which much was to be urged on account of its association with the military achievements of the Duke, and with his high office as Commander in Chief of the Army) the great size of the statue would be less objectionable and its artistic effects less glaring. That hope is not realized by the result, and the experiment made shows that there is no position in London suitable to such a Colossus, or in which its faults would not be as salient as in the two localities which have been tried. The Committee, therefore, strongly urge that the statue should be re-cast, the old metal being used again in the production of a new statue of more suitable proportions. They recommend that this statue should be erected in the place opposite to Apsley House. In that way the Duke may be commemorated by a monument in the place above all others best suited to receive it. The Report is agreed to by the Duke of Wellington, Lord Hardinge, Sir Frederick Leighton, Mr. Fergusson, and Mr. Mitford. Mr. Boehm was unable to be present. I may mention that the statue is 26 feet high, or about three times the life size, and that a pedestal of the usual proportions would be about 23 feet high. A pedestal of granite, polished and suitably ornamented, would cost £5,000, and the removal of the statue to the alternative site would cost about £1,000. I am also informed that a new statue, of the ordinary heroic, but not colossal, size would, exclusive of the metal, not cost more than the above sum. The Government have, therefore, determined to adopt the proposal of the Committee, that the statue should be re-cast in a less colossal size. Having carefully considered the Report, the Government have decided to invite a competition of sculptors for a now statue of the Great Duke, to be placed in front of Apsley House, in lieu of the present statue. It will not be necessary for this purpose to ask for any Vote from the House during the present Session.

SIR HENRY HOLLAND

Is the statue to be where the present one is?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

Yes.

SIR HENRY HOLLAND

Not on the top of the arch?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

Not on the top of the arch.

MR. RYLANDS

asked, whether the cost of the new statue would exceed the cost of removing the old statue to another place?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

, in reply, said, that he had wished to convey to the House that it would not.

SIR EARDLEY WILMOT

Is not the right hon. Gentleman aware that the horse was modelled from the celebrated Copenhagen, on the back of which the illustrious Duke won many of his victories in the Peninsula, and that he also rode that horse on the occasion of the Battle of Waterloo?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

Yes; I am informed that that is the case. The new statue will probably be equestrian also.

LORD JOHN MANNERS

Is the competition for the commission for making the new statue to be limited or unlimited?

MR. SHAW LEFEVRE

Unlimited.