The Shelley Memorial is a memorial to the English
poet
A poet is a person who studies and creates poetry. Poets may describe themselves as such or be described as such by others. A poet may simply be the creator ( thinker, songwriter, writer, or author) who creates (composes) poems ( oral or wri ...
Percy Bysshe Shelley (1792–1822) at
University College
In a number of countries, a university college is a college institution that provides tertiary education but does not have full or independent university status. A university college is often part of a larger university. The precise usage varies ...
,
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
,
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Wales to its west and Scotland to its north. The Irish Sea lies northwest and the Celtic Sea to the southwest. It is separated from continental Europe b ...
, the college that he briefly attended and from which he was expelled for writing the 1811 pamphlet "
The Necessity of Atheism".
Although Shelley was expelled from the college, he remains one of its most famous alumni and is now held in high honour there. In 2005, the college acquired some of Shelley's letters to further enhance its connection with the poet.
Statue
The memorial consists of a white marble sculpture of a reclining nude and dead Shelley washed up on the shore at Viareggio in Italy after his drowning, sculpted by
Edward Onslow Ford, associated with the
New Sculpture movement. It is set on a decorative plinth in a small
domed late
Victorian room designed by
Basil Champneys
Basil Champneys (17 September 1842 – 5 April 1935) was an English architect and author whose most notable buildings include Manchester's John Rylands Library, Somerville College Library (Oxford), Newnham College, Cambridge, Lady Margaret Hal ...
, behind ornamental railings that protect it from students.
The statue was commissioned by Shelley's daughter-in-law, Lady Shelley. It was originally intended to be located in the
Protestant Cemetery in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus (legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
where Shelley is buried, at the request of adventurer
Edward John Trelawny, a friend of Shelley. Trelawny wanted to have a monument of the poet next to his own. However, Trelawny's descendants thought that Ford's statue was too large and thus did not consent to his wishes. Eventually the statue ended up at University College, donated by Lady Shelley, with a formal opening ceremony on 14 June 1893. Among others, Lady Shelley, Onslow Ford, Champneys and
Benjamin Jowett
Benjamin Jowett (, modern variant ; 15 April 1817 – 1 October 1893) was an English tutor and administrative reformer in the University of Oxford, a theologian, an Anglican cleric, and a translator of Plato and Thucydides. He was Master of B ...
were present at the opening ceremony.
The memorial has been the victim of a number of pranks over the years. The college's chemistry don,
E. J. Bowen, had to clean paint off the statue, for example. The room in which it is housed has also been flooded and infested with goldfish.
The statue was a key element in the meeting of two main characters in the 1997 film ''
The Saint'', starring
Val Kilmer
Val Edward Kilmer (born December 31, 1959) is an American actor. Originally a stage actor, Kilmer found fame after appearances in comedy films, starting with ''Top Secret!'' (1984) and ''Real Genius'' (1985), as well as the military action film ...
and
Elisabeth Shue
Elisabeth Judson Shue (born October 6, 1963) is an American actress. She is best known for her roles in the films ''The Karate Kid'' (1984), '' Adventures in Babysitting'' (1987), ''Cocktail'' (1988), '' Back to the Future Part II'' (1989), ''B ...
, and also features in an episode (And the Moonbeams Kiss the Sea) of the British TV drama,
Lewis
Lewis may refer to:
Names
* Lewis (given name), including a list of people with the given name
* Lewis (surname), including a list of people with the surname
Music
* Lewis (musician), Canadian singer
* "Lewis (Mistreated)", a song by Radiohead ...
.
Boyle–Hooke plaque
The Shelley Memorial is on the site where the scientists
Robert Boyle
Robert Boyle (; 25 January 1627 – 31 December 1691) was an Anglo-Irish natural philosopher, chemist, physicist, alchemist and inventor. Boyle is largely regarded today as the first modern chemist, and therefore one of the founders of ...
and
Robert Hooke performed experiments while they were in
Oxford
Oxford () is a city in England. It is the county town and only city of Oxfordshire. In 2020, its population was estimated at 151,584. It is north-west of London, south-east of Birmingham and north-east of Bristol. The city is home to the ...
, previously Cross Hall until the early 19th century. This is recorded for passers-by, on a plaque on the exterior wall of the memorial in the
High Street
High Street is a common street name for the primary business street of a city, town, or village, especially in the United Kingdom and Commonwealth. It implies that it is the focal point for business, especially shopping. It is also a metonym fo ...
, that reads:
Robert Boyle and Robert Hooke
University College
Oxford
See also
* Keats–Shelley Memorial House
The Keats–Shelley Memorial House is a writer's house museum in Rome, Italy, commemorating the Romantic poets John Keats and Percy Bysshe Shelley. The museum houses one of the world's most extensive collections of memorabilia, letters, manuscri ...
, Rome, Italy
* Oxford Spanish Civil War memorial
References
External links
Shelley Memorial All Washed Up
article from '' Cherwell''
{{coord , 51.75257, -1.25244, type:landmark_region:GB-OXF, display=title
1893 sculptures
1893 establishments in England
University College, Oxford
Monuments and memorials in Oxfordshire
Buildings and structures of the University of Oxford
History of the University of Oxford
Culture of the University of Oxford
Tourist attractions in Oxford
Sculptures in England
Marble sculptures in the United Kingdom
Individual rooms
Domes
English poetry
Statues of writers
Cultural depictions of Percy Bysshe Shelley