This is a statue of Queen Anne who reigned from 1702 to 1714 which now sits on top of a bank in the High Street. It was put here after her visit to Winchester in 1705 accompanied by her husband and consort Prince George of Denmark. The Latin inscription near the statue means Queen Anne in the Year of Peace 1713 referring to the signing of the Peace of Utrecht.
The 3 previous monarchs James II, William and Mary had ignored Winchester completely and Charles II's proposed palace at the top of the hill was languishing in an unfinished state. Much to the people's joy Queen Anne decided that she would go ahead with Charles II's palace and present it to Prince George for his future dwelling. At last Winchester seemed to have a royal future again! Unfortunately by 1714 Queen Anne had died and Prince George died even earlier so this statue is a sad farewell to hopes that Winchester might regain its former glory. With the passing of Anne no monarch ever showed an interest in Charles' great scheme and Charles's Palace later became Peninsula Barracks.
Pretty statue. Protection against theft and/or the outrages of... ummm... birds?
ReplyDeleteAn interesting, historical post.
ReplyDeleteAm not sure what the wire mesh is for! Many of the high street buildings are protected with horrible spikes sticking out to stop people climbing up - not sure if they think we are all desparate to go and sit on roofs or something!
ReplyDeleteHi! Thanks for the comment and warm welcome! I've spent a lot of time in Winchester, but it's been about 4 years since I was there last. It's one of the most beautiful cities in England.
ReplyDeleteVery interesting post indeed with a nice photo.
ReplyDeleteWhat a shame!
ReplyDeleteWinchester could be today's London. ;)
A nice statue, quite a few buildings here in Yorkshire have similar mesh, I think it is most likely the prevent birds nesting and fouling also. Here in Leeds we have quite a nice statue of Queen Anne but it resides in the
ReplyDeleteLeeds city art gallery and they have a strict no photography rule.
Originally the Leeds Queen Anne statue (sculpted by Andrew Carpenter) resided on top of a building quite similar to this one, the Moot Hall which stood in the middle of the main street in Leeds, Briggate, til the 1820s when it was pulled down to help traffic flow. It was then removed to the Corn Exchange at the top of Briggate in 1826, a very similar structure and when THAT was pulled down in the 1860s (replaced further down town by Cuthbert Brodrick's more famous and splendid one which is still there), eventually wended its way to Leeds Art Gallery in 1888 when it opened. The journey of a statue! There is a good pic of it on Wikipedia.
DeleteHi Lori - happy to hear you know & like Winchester!
ReplyDeleteLondon C - Quite! I used to live in London from aged 15-19, don't think I could handle the pace now!
Paul - Like your photo of powerboking outside the art gallery!