HC Deb 20 May 1958 vol 588 c1093
31. Sir H. Kerr

asked the Minister of Works whether he has any further statement to make about the site for the proposed statue of Sir Walter Raleigh.

Mr. Molson

As I stated on 4th March, I have undertaken to find a suitable site in London for a statue of Sir Walter Raleigh by Mr. William McMillan, R.A., which will be erected at the cost of a number of generous individuals and companies who wish to commemorate the early links between the British Commonwealth and the United States of America.

In view of the strong desire of the Royal Fine Art Commission and of the Trustees of the National Gallery that the statue of James II by Grinling Gibbons should not now be removed from its present site, I have reconsidered the matter. I have now decided that the proposed statue of Sir Walter Raleigh should be placed in the garden to be laid out on the Whitehall frontage of the Government offices now being erected in Whitehall Gardens. The R.F.A.C. has thanked me for accepting its advice and has expressed its approval of the new site.

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