Statue of Robert Peel, Parliament Square

Sculpture in London by Matthew Noble

Robert Peel

The statue in 2015

Artist| Matthew Noble
Year| 1876; 149 years ago (1876)
Type| Statue
Medium| Bronze
Subject| Robert Peel
Location| London, SW1
United Kingdom
Coordinates| 51°30′02″N 0°07′38″W﻿ / ﻿51.5005°N 0.1273°W﻿ / 51.5005; -0.1273

The statue of Robert Peel in Parliament Square, London, is a bronze sculpture of Sir Robert Peel, a former prime minister of the United Kingdom. It was sculpted by Matthew Noble and was one of the first three statues to be placed in the square.

## Description

[edit]

The statue of Sir Robert Peel by sculptor Matthew Noble stands in Parliament Square facing Great George Street in the south-west corner of the square.[1][2] It is a bronze statue on a granite plinth, and is Grade II listed.[2]

## History

[edit]

In 1871, it was proposed that three statues of Sir Robert Peel, Edward Smith-Stanley, 14th Earl of Derby and Henry John Temple, 3rd Viscount Palmerston should be erected. Following a report to HM Treasury, it was identified that the two gardens forming Parliament Square could be adjusted so that it could accommodate 18 statues in total. It was originally proposed to build all the plinths at once, and leaving them unoccupied until statues were completed.[3]

The statue of Sir Robert Peel was the last work by Noble to be completed:[4] he died on 23 June 1876.[5] The statue was cast at Cox and Son's foundry in Thames Ditton in September 1876. The granite plinth had already been completed on site, and it was hoped at the time that the statue would be in place by the end of the year.[4] There was no ceremony to unveil the statue in December 1876 at the request of the committee.[6] It was the third of the group of statues to be placed in Parliament Square.[7] Following the placement of the statue of Robert Peel in the square, it was considered that it might be appropriate to add further statues of statesmen because of the location next to the Houses of Parliament.[8]

In June 2020, the statue was vandalized during the George Floyd protests[9] and a petition was created demanding its removal because Peel founded the Metropolitan Police Service.[10] The statue was not removed.

## See also

[edit]

* 1876 in art
* List of public art in Westminster

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Sir Robert Peel". Leicester Daily Mercury. Vol. III, no. 887\. British Newspaper Archive. 2 December 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
2. ^ a b "Statues". London.gov.uk. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
3. ^ "Statues of Statesmen at Westminster". Western Daily Press. Vol. XXVI, no. 4064\. British Newspaper Archive. 6 June 1871. p. 4. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
4. ^ a b "General News". Edinburgh Evening News. No. 1035\. British Newspaper Archive. 15 September 1876. p. 4. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
5. ^ "Death of Mr. Matthew Noble". Grantham Journal. British Newspaper Archive. 1 July 1876. p. 7. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
6. ^ "Statue of Sir Robert Peel". Sheffield Independent. Vol. LX, no. 6420\. British Newspaper Archive. 12 December 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
7. ^ "Domestic Intelligence". Bury and Norwich Post. No. 4929\. British Newspaper Archive. 19 December 1876. p. 3. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
8. ^ "General News". Leamington Spa Courier. Vol. L, no. 3\. British Newspaper Archive. 20 January 1877. p. 7. Retrieved 15 February 2015.
9. ^ McCoid, Sophie; Armstrong, Gary; George, Thomas (8 June 2020). "Protesters vandalise Robert Peel statue and want others torn down". Liverpool Echo. Retrieved 14 September 2020.
10. ^ George, Thomas (8 June 2020). "Robert Peel statue vandalised amid calls to remove Piccadilly Gardens monument". Manchester Evening News. Retrieved 14 September 2020.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to Statue of Robert Peel, Parliament Square, London at Wikimedia Commons

* v
* t
* e

Public art and memorials in London

Portrait sculpture

| British/English
royalty|

* Boudica
* Alfred the Great
* Richard I
* Queen Eleanor (Charing Cross)
* Edward VI
* St Thomas' Hospital: bronze
* stone
* Charles I
* (Interregnum: Oliver Cromwell)
* Charles II
* Chelsea
* Soho
* Stocks Market†
* James II
* William III
* Kensington Palace
* St James's
* Anne
* St Paul's
* Westminster
* George III
* George IV
* King's Cross†
* Trafalgar Square
* Duke of York
* William IV
* Duke of Kent
* Duke of Cambridge
* Victoria
* Kensington Palace
* Victoria Memorial
* Prince Albert
* Albert Memorial
* Memorial to the Great Exhibition
* George V
* George VI and Queen Elizabeth
* Elizabeth II (planned)

|

Arts|

* John Betjeman
* Marc Bolan
* Robert Burns
* Thomas Carlyle
* Charlie Chaplin
* Geoffrey Chaucer†
* Agatha Christie
* John Donne
* Henry Irving
* Michael Jackson†
* John Keats
* Guy's Hospital
* Moorgate
* John Milton†
* George Orwell
* Joshua Reynolds
* William Shakespeare
* Heminges and Condell Memorial
* Leicester Square
* Park Lane†
* Sarah Siddons
* Arthur Sullivan
* Oscar Wilde
* Chelsea
* Covent Garden
* Amy Winehouse

Explorers|

* James Cook
* Yuri Gagarin

Merchants|

* John Cass†
* Thomas Guy
* Quintin Hogg
* Robert Milligan†
* Hugh Myddelton

Military|

* Lord Alanbrooke
* Lord Baden-Powell
* Ferdinand Foch
* Charles George Gordon
* Earl Haig
* Henry Havelock
* Lord Kitchener
* Lord Montgomery
* Lord Mountbatten
* Charles James Napier
* Admiral Lord Nelson (Nelson's Column)
* James Outram
* Lord Roberts
* Viscount Slim
* Duke of Wellington
* City
* Hyde Park Corner
* George Stuart White
* Lord Wolseley

Nurses|

* Edith Cavell
* Florence Nightingale
* Mary Seacole

Politics|

| British|

| Prime ministers|

* Clement Attlee
* George Canning
* Winston Churchill
* Parliament Square
* Woodford
* Lord Derby
* Benjamin Disraeli
* David Lloyd George
* William Ewart Gladstone
* Lord Palmerston
* Robert Peel

|

Other politicians|

* Robert Clayton
* Robert Clive
* Duke of Devonshire
* Charles James Fox
* Henry Bartle Frere
* Sidney Herbert
* Wilfrid Lawson
* Simon Milton (Paddington, St James's, Southwark)
* Marquess of Westminster

International|

* Simón Bolívar
* Mahatma Gandhi
* Bloomsbury
* Westminster
* Charles de Gaulle
* Haile Selassie†
* John F. Kennedy†
* Abraham Lincoln
* Nelson Mandela
* Karl Marx
* Peter the Great
* José de San Martín
* Jan Smuts
* Trajan
* Volodymyr
* George Washington

Religion|

* Thomas Becket
* John Henry Newman
* John Wesley
* St Paul's
* Shoreditch

Science and
engineering|

* Joseph Bazalgette
* Isambard Kingdom Brunel
* Sigmund Freud
* James Henry Greathead
* Nigel Gresley
* Edward Jenner
* Joseph Lister
* Isaac Newton
* Robert Stephenson

Social reformers
and humanitarians|

* Thomas Barnardo
* Millicent Fawcett
* Margaret MacDonald
* Emmeline and Christabel Pankhurst
* Sylvia Pankhurst
* Robert Raikes
* Raoul Wallenberg

Sport|

* Harry Kane
* Bobby Moore
* Upton Park—with Geoff Hurst, Martin Peters and Ray Wilson
* Wembley

Fictional
characters|

* Paddington Bear
* Peter Pan
* Sherlock Holmes

See also|

* Talking Statues
* Statues in London on Wikimedia Commons

Other monuments and memorials

* 7 July bombings
* Queen Alexandra
* Anti–air war
* Bali bombings
* Lady Burdett-Coutts
* Lord Cheylesmore
* Cleopatra's Needle
* Conscientious objectors
* COVID-19 pandemic
* Michael Faraday
* Firefighters
* W. G. Grace
* Great Fire of London
* Golden Boy of Pye Corner
* The Monument
* Heroic self-sacrifice
* Journalists
* Police
* Queen Elizabeth Gate
* Silver Jubilee Crystal Crown
* Star and Garter Home
* Stratford Martyrs
* Suffragettes
* Victims of the Atlantic slave trade (planned)
* Virginia colonists
* Wellington Arch
* Wellington Monument
* Whittington Stone
* Windrush generation
* Custard Apple (Annonaceae), Breadfruit (Moraceae) and Soursop (Annonaceae)
* National Windrush Monument
* Mary Wollstonecraft

War memorials|

| Pre-C20|

* Animals in War
* Guards Brigade (Crimean War)
* Gurkhas (1816–)
* Marble Arch
* New Zealand Campaign (1863–1864)
* Siege of Cádiz
* Westminster School

|

Boer Wars|

* 61st Battery Royal Field Artillery (Woolwich)
* Barnet Boys School
* Royal Artillery (The Mall)
* Royal Marines

WWI · WWII|

* The Cenotaph

* Africa and the Caribbean
* Australia
* Battle of Britain
* Belgium
* Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red
* Burma Railway
* Canada
* La Délivrance
* Flanders Fields Memorial Garden
* Malta
* Memorial Gates
* Merchant Navy
* Ships named on the memorial
* New Zealand
* Poland
* South Africa
* Submarines
* Women of World War II

Regimental|

* 24th Division
* Cavalry
* Chindits
* Civil Service Rifles
* Eagle Squadrons
* Fleet Air Arm
* Guards Brigade
* Imperial Camel Corps
* Machine Gun Corps
* Rifle Brigade
* Royal Air Force
* RAF Bomber Command
* Royal Artillery
* Royal Fusiliers
* Royal Naval Division
* Royal Tank Regiment

Local|

* London Troops

* Arkley
* Bromley
* parish
* Chingford
* Chipping Barnet
* Cockfosters
* Croydon
* East Barnet
* Enfield Town (3 memorials)
* Finchley
* Friern Barnet (parish)
* Fulham
* Golders Green
* Hampstead
* Hampton Wick
* Hendon
* Hornsey
* Islington
* Kingston
* Monken Hadley
* New Barnet
* New Malden
* Paddington
* Poplar
* Rainham
* Richmond
* St Michael, Cornhill (parish)
* St Saviour, Southwark (parish)
* Silvertown
* Streatham
* Twickenham
* Promenade de Verdun, Woodcote
* Wood Green

Corporate|

* Baltic Exchange
* Bank of England
* British Medical Association
* Dulwich College
* Old
* New
* Great Eastern Railway
* Great Western Railway
* Lincoln's Inn
* London and North Western Railway
* London, Brighton and South Coast Railway
* Pearl Assurance†
* South Suburban Gas Company

Holocaust|

* Victoria Tower Gardens (planned)

* Hyde Park
* Kindertransport
* Stolperstein

Post-WWII|

* Victims of Communism
* Korean War
* Iraq and Afghanistan

Blue plaques|

* Camden
* Kensington and Chelsea
* City of Westminster

Other works

| Sculptures|

* Atalanta
* The Barbican Muse
* Bellerophon Taming Pegasus
* The Bermondsey Lion
* Big 4‡
* Bull
* The Burghers of Calais
* Christ Child
* Cornerstone
* Crystal Palace Dinosaurs
* The Diver
* Dolphin lamp standards
* Dragon boundary marks
* Elfin Oak
* Enwrought Light
* Father Time
* Fulcrum
* The Gold Smelters
* Gorilla
* The Hampstead Figure
* Homage to Leonardo
* Icarus
* Labyrinth
* Liberty Clock
* London Noses
* London Pride
* The Meeting Place
* The Messenger
* Millennium Dial
* Monolith and Shadow
* The Naked Ladies
* The Neighbours
* Nelson's Ship in a Bottle
* Nike
* Paternoster Vents
* Peckham Arch
* Physical Energy
* Platforms Piece
* Pope's Urn
* Putney Sculpture Trail
* The Queen's Beasts
* The Rush of Green
* St Paul's Cross
* Sculpture in the City‡
* Skylon†
* Slipstream
* South Bank Lion
* Still Water
* Tortoises with Triangle and Time
* Traffic Light Tree
* Union (Horse with Two Discs)
* The Watchers
* The World Turned Upside Down
* The Young Lovers

Fourth plinth, Trafalgar Square‡|

* The End
* Hahn/Cock
* Nelson's Ship in a Bottle
* One & Other

Elisabeth Frink|

* Blind Beggar and his Dog
* Horse and Rider
* Paternoster

Barbara Hepworth|

* Meridian†
* Single Form (Memorial)
* Two Forms (Divided Circle)†
* Winged Figure

Henry Moore|

* The Arch 1979–1980
* Draped Seated Woman 1957–58
* Knife Edge Two Piece 1962–65
* Large Standing Figure (Knife Edge)
* Locking Piece
* Three Standing Figures 1947

Eduardo Paolozzi|

* The Artist as Hephaestus†
* Piscator

The Line‡|

* ArcelorMittal Orbit
* Here
* Quantum Cloud
* Liberty Grip
* A Slice of Reality

Fountains|

* Buxton Memorial
* Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain
* Diana Fountain, Bushy Park
* Diana Fountain, Green Park
* Edward VII Jewish Memorial Fountain
* Henry Fawcett Memorial
* The Horses of Helios
* Guilford Place
* Matilda Fountain
* Poets' Fountain†
* Readymoney Drinking Fountain
* Revolving Torsion
* Roehampton
* St Lawrence Jewry and St Mary Magdalene
* Shaftesbury Memorial ("Eros")
* Lady Henry Somerset Memorial
* Victoria Park

Murals|

* Brixton
* Children at Play
* Cable Street
* Dulwich
* Old Kent Road
* National Covid Memorial Wall
* Poplar Rates Rebellion
* Poured Lines
* Sutton twin towns
* Sutton Heritage Mosaic

Banksy|

* From this moment despair ends and tactics begin
* Girl with Balloon†
* One Nation Under CCTV†
* Pulp Fiction†
* Slave Labour†

Land art|

* Northala Fields

See also|

* Art on the Underground
* Tube map covers
* Commission for Diversity in the Public Realm
* London Mural Preservation Society
* Metropolitan Drinking Fountain and Cattle Trough Association

By location

* City of London
* Barking and Dagenham
* Barnet
* Bexley
* Brent
* Bromley
* Camden
* Croydon
* Ealing
* Enfield
* Greenwich
* Hackney
* Hammersmith and Fulham
* Haringey
* Harrow
* Havering
* Hillingdon
* Hounslow
* Islington
* Kensington and Chelsea
* Kingston
* Lambeth
* Lewisham
* Merton
* Newham
* Redbridge
* Richmond
* Southwark
* Sutton
* Tower Hamlets
* Waltham Forest
* Wandsworth

City of Westminster|

* Belgravia1
* Covent Garden2
* Green Park
* Hyde Park
* Kensington1
* Kensington Gardens1
* Knightsbridge1
* Mayfair
* Millbank
* Paddington
* Pimlico
* St James's
* St Marylebone
* Soho
* Strand
* Trafalgar Square
* Victoria
* Victoria Embankment3
* Westminster
* Whitehall

* 1 Partly in Kensington and Chelsea
* 2 Partly in Camden
* 3 Partly in the City of London

Key: † No longer extant, on public display or in London (see List of public art formerly in London) * ‡ Changing displays

* v
* t
* e

Parliament Square, London

Buildings|

| Current|

* Clockwise from Southwest: Middlesex Guildhall
* Supreme Court
* 12 Great George Street
* RICS
* Government Offices Great George Street
* HM Treasury
* HM Revenue and Customs
* 10 Bridge Street
* St Stephens Tavern
* Portcullis House
* Westminster Underground Station
* Palace of Westminster
* Elizabeth Tower
* Big Ben
* New Palace Yard
* Westminster Hall
* House of Commons
* House of Lords
* St Margaret's Westminster
* Westminster Abbey

|

Former|

* Buxton Memorial Fountain

Statues|

| In the square|

* Clockwise from Southwest: Mandela
* Peel
* Gandhi
* Disraeli
* Fawcett
* Derby
* Palmerston
* Smuts
* Lloyd George
* Churchill

|

By Middlesex Guildhall|

* Lincoln
* Canning

Nearby|

* Cromwell

Adjacent streets|

* Broad Sanctuary (leading to Victoria Street)
* Little Sanctuary
* Little George Street
* Great George Street (leading to Birdcage Walk)
* Parliament Street (leading to Whitehall)
* Bridge Street (leading Westminster Bridge)
* Abingdon Street (leading to Millbank)

Architects|

* Charles Barry
* George Grey Wornum
* Augustus Pugin
* John Brydon
* J.S. Gibson
* Michael Hopkins and Partners

Events|

* Black Friday (1910)
* Parliament Square Peace Campaign (Brian Haw)
* 2010 United Kingdom student protests

* Category
* Commons

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