King Edward VII Memorial

Public sculpture by Albert Toft

King Edward VII Memorial

The statue in 2013, after restoration

Artist| Albert Toft
Year| 1913 (1913)
Medium| Carrara marble
Location| Centenary Square, Birmingham, England
Coordinates| 52°28′47″N 1°54′25″W﻿ / ﻿52.479762°N 1.906906°W﻿ / 52.479762; -1.906906
Owner| Birmingham City Council
The statue in Highgate Park in 2007, before restoration

The King Edward VII Memorial is a sculpture in memory of King Edward VII, relocated from Highgate Park to Centenary Square, Birmingham, England.

In 1910, the Birmingham Mail launched an appeal to erect a statue to Edward VII in order to commemorate his reign. Over £5,000 were quickly raised, and an area within Birmingham Children's Hospital was allocated for its location (then located on Ladywood Road near Five Ways).

Albert Toft was commissioned to craft the statue, but the project immediately ran into problems. The statue was to be over six feet tall, making it difficult to find a large enough piece of Carrara marble for its construction. This problem was overcome and the project was well underway through 1912.[1]

The statue was unveiled in Victoria Square on St George's Day, 23 April 1913 by Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll. It stood next to a statue of Queen Victoria. However, soon afterwards these statues were criticized as being of "ill matched designs".[2] The statue of Edward VII was moved to Highgate Park when Victoria Square was remodeled in 1951.[1]

The statue was the subject of theft in the 1970s and 1980s, beginning with the Saint George's lance and then the three bronze groups in 1985 and 1986, none of which have been recovered.

Following successful lobbying by the Victorian Society, Birmingham City Council agreed to restore the statue and re-site it back in the city center. On 12 June 2007, the Society launched an appeal fund to contribute towards the program of works which raised almost £12,000, more than 10% of the final cost of restoration. Work by Cliveden Conservation in Bath began in 2009. A new scepter and orb capital and the three bronzes (representing, respectively, Peace, Education and Progress, and St George slaying the dragon beneath a stylized crown) were re-made, and the monument reassembled on its original plinth. King Edward VII statue was finally placed in its new location outside Baskerville House in Centenary Square in 2013, near other Toft sculptures in the Hall of Memory.[3]

## References

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1. ^ a b Public Sculpture of Birmingham: Including Sutton Coldfield, George Thomas Noszlopy, 1998, Liverpool University Press (ISBN 0853236925)
2. ^ The Builder: Art beneath the rule of commerce, May 1, 1914, vol. 106
3. ^ BusinessLive (1 November 2010). "Statue of King Edward VII to return to Birmingham city centre". Business Live. Retrieved 9 November 2022. `{{cite web}}`: `|last=` has generic name (help)

## External links

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Map all coordinates using OpenStreetMap

Download coordinates as:

* KML
* GPX (all coordinates)
* GPX (primary coordinates)
* GPX (secondary coordinates)

Wikimedia Commons has media related to King Edward VII Memorial.

* Victorian Society: Statue appeal
* Historic England. "Grade II statue (1289623)". National Heritage List for England.
* Birmingham City Council press release with video of statue's arrival and erection.

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Edward VII

King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, Emperor of India (1901–1910)

Family|

* Alexandra of Denmark (wife)
* Prince Albert Victor, Duke of Clarence and Avondale (son)
* George V (son)
* Louise, Princess Royal (daughter)
* Princess Victoria (daughter)
* Maud, Queen of Norway (daughter)
* Queen Victoria (mother)
* Prince Albert of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (father)
* Victoria, German Empress (sister)
* Alice, Grand Duchess of Hesse and by Rhine (sister)
* Alfred, Duke of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha (brother)
* Helena, Princess Christian of Schleswig-Holstein (sister)
* Princess Louise, Duchess of Argyll (sister)
* Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught and Strathearn (brother)
* Prince Leopold, Duke of Albany (brother)
* Beatrice, Princess Henry of Battenberg (sister)

Events|

* Wedding
* Royal baccarat scandal
* Coronation
* Honours
* Medal
* Police Medal
* Coronation cases
* State and official visits made
* State visits received
* Death and state funeral

Reign|

* Edwardian era
* Edwardian architecture
* Prime ministers
* Household

Namesakes|

* King Edward VII Land, Antarctica
* King Edward VII-class battleship
* HMS King Edward VII
* Hospitals
* Falkland Islands
* London
* Sheffield
* Parks
* Lisbon
* Schools
* Johannesburg
* King's Lynn
* Lytham St Annes
* Melton Mowbray
* Sheffield
* Taiping
* Universities
* Lahore
* Prince Albert
* King Edward VII Stakes

Depictions|

| Film and television|

* The Coronation of Edward VII (1902)
* "Guest of Honour" (1972)
* Fall of Eagles (1974)
* Jennie: Lady Randolph Churchill (1974)
* Edward the Seventh (1975)
* The Duchess of Duke Street (1976)
* Lillie (1978)
* Mrs Brown (1997)
* The Lost Prince (2003)
* Victoria & Abdul (2017)

|

Statues and
memorials|

* Bengaluru
* Birmingham
* Bootle
* Brighton
* Montreal

Portraits|

* The Christening of the Prince of Wales
* The Marriage of the Prince of Wales
* Coronation portrait

Books|

* The Edwardians (1930)
* And Having Writ... (1978)
* Flashman and the Tiger (1999)

Stamps|

* Edward VII 2d Tyrian plum

Mistresses|

* Agnes Keyser
* Alice Keppel
* Daisy Greville
* Hortense Schneider
* Lady Susan Vane-Tempest
* Lillie Langtry
* Nellie Clifden
* Patsy Cornwallis-West

Honours|

* Royal Family Order
* Knights Grand Cross of the Royal Victorian Order
* Knights Commander of the Royal Victorian Order

Related|

* Arthur Sassoon
* Olga de Meyer
* Lady Randolph Churchill
* Sarah Bernhardt
* Homburg hat
* Caesar (dog)
* King Edward VII's Town Coach
* King's Ginger
* Marlborough House set
* Love chair

* ← Victoria
* George V →

* v
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Albert Toft

Sculptures|

* South African War Memorial, Cardiff (1909)
* King Edward VII Memorial (1913)
* Streatham War Memorial (1922)
* Royal Fusiliers War Memorial (1922)
* Hall of Memory, Birmingham (1923)
* Oldham War Memorial (1923)
* Thornton-Cleveleys War Memorial (1923)

Related|

* Alfonso Toft (brother)

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Public art and memorials in Birmingham

Statues|

* A Real Birmingham Family
* Edward VII
* Joseph Sturge
* Lord Nelson
* Matthew Boulton, James Watt and William Murdoch

Sculpture|

* John Bridgeman play sculpture
* Lanchester Car
* Moonstones
* James Watt's Mad Machine
* Iron:Man
* Sentinel
* The River

Murals|

* J. F. Kennedy Memorial

Lost|

* King Kong
* Una White

Notable artists|

* William Bloye
* Mark Renn
* Tim Tolkien

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