Personal Blogs

The Fourth Plinth stands in the north west corner of Trafalgar Square. Built in 1841 it was originally intended to act as the base of a statue of the typical Victorian hero - soldier or sailor - as its three companions in the square have always done.

In modern times there has been heated debate as to whose statue it should support but now it could be any one of us. The sculptor Antony Gormley is asking the people of the UK to occupy the Fourth Plinth for one hour at a time. He sees this as a representation of the whole of humanity. Every hour, 24 hours a day for 100 days, individuals who will be selected at random from all applicants can make the Plinth their own.

So does this make us all potentially heros? And how might the Heritage Wardens who are on duty in Trafalgar Square 24 hours a day describe us to the tourists who come to visit?

To find out more about the One & Other project visit the website: http://www.london.gov.uk/fourthplinth/

Isambard Kingdom Brunel, the engineer, is commemorated by six statues in six different places. These have been erected at different dates for similar reasons, each place wants to link itself with its heritage and connection to Brunel.

London, Embankment erected 1864, sculptor Baron Marochetti

Swindon, erected 1973, copy of Marochetti's work

London, Paddingdon Station, erected 1982, sculptor John Doubleday

Bristol, erected 1982, sculptor John Doubleday

Neyland, Pembrokeshire, erected 1999, sculptor Robert Thomas of Barry

Brunel University, erected 2006, sculptor Anthony Stones

London is the scene of several of Brunel's works and he was the type of hero the Victorians commemorated with statues. Swindon is the railway town created by Brunel's Great Western Railway so its claim to his fame is understandable. The two companion statues by John Doubleday were commissioned and paid for by the Bristol and West Building Society and are placed at either end of Brunel's Great Western line from London to Bristol. In fact they were unveiled on the same day, the dignitaries starting in London and travelling by rail to unveil the second statue. Neyland, the Pembrokshire port of departure of Brunel's steam ships, paid for its statue by public subscription whilst Brunel University's reason for wanting a statue is obvious.

Each statue is different. The Victorians wanted to look up to their heros so on the Embankment Brunel stands up high above us on his pedestal. Today we are more likely to be invited to stand alongside our heros as the photograph of the Paddington station statue below shows.

Additionally each statue depicts Brunel in a different fashion, standing or sitting, holding a steamship, top hatted or not. The most recent statue gave rise to controversy as Brunel's trademark cigar was omitted showing that the issue of commemoration is important to people.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/5194478.stm

To my knowledge there are at least two public statues of Alfred the Great, one in his capital Winchester and another in his birth place Wantage. By erecting statues both places are laying a claim to him. The statues offer some similarities and differences in how they depict Alfred.

In Winchester the 15 foot high bronze statue by Sir W H Thornycroft was unveiled in 1901, 1000 years after Alfred's death. It took 11 months to cast at the Singer foundry, Frome, Somerset. It depicts Alfred as a Christian warrior and shield of the Saxons against the Danes, sword raised in the symbol of the cross. 

In Wantage the statue, commissioned by Lord Wantage, and designed and carved in 1877 by Count Gleichen of Hohenlobe, (a cousin of Queen Victoria) stands in the town centre. It depicts Alfred as the warrior, hence the axe, and lawgiver, see the scroll, and in the woven design on the hem of his tunic is the Christian symbol of the cross.

So not only do we have to consider who to erect statues to but where they are placed and how the chosen individual is depicted.