The Armada Memorial is a monument on

Plymouth Hoe Plymouth Hoe, referred to locally as the Hoe, is a large south-facing open public space in the English coastal city of Plymouth. The Hoe is adjacent to and above the low limestone cliffs that form the seafront and it commands views of Plymouth ...

, Plymouth,

Devon Devon ( , historically known as Devonshire , ) is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in South West England. The most populous settlement in Devon is the city of Plymouth, followed by Devon's county town, the city of Exeter. Devo ...

, England. Built in 1888, the monument celebrates the tercentenary of the defeat of the Spanish Armada, which was sighted by English captains stationed in the city. It is a

granite Granite () is a coarse-grained ( phaneritic) intrusive igneous rock composed mostly of quartz, alkali feldspar, and plagioclase. It forms from magma with a high content of silica and alkali metal oxides that slowly cools and solidifies under ...

structure, decorated with bronze crests and a statue of

Britannia Britannia () is the national personification of Britain as a helmeted female warrior holding a trident and shield. An image first used in classical antiquity, the Latin ''Britannia'' was the name variously applied to the British Isles, Great ...

Background

The Spanish Armada (or just ''the Armada'') was a fleet that unsuccessfully attempted a naval invasion of England. News of the Armada's approach reached Plymouth on the afternoon of 19 July and it entered into sight on 20 July. Tradition recorded that tidings of the approach came to the captains whilst they were playing bowls on Plymouth Hoe. Tradition also associates the following passage from Francis Drake: "There is time enough to play the game out first, and thrash the Spaniards afterwards." In commemoration of the defeat of the Armada, it was customary for the bells of St Andrew's to ring a merry peal annually on the Saturday night preceding 25 July. This practice ended in the 19th century. A statue of Francis Drake was erected on the Hoe in 1884.

History

The foundation stone of the Armada Memorial was laid on 19 July 1888, by the

Mayor of Plymouth This is a list of some notable mayors and all the later lord mayors of the city of Plymouth in the United Kingdom. Plymouth had elected a mayor annually since 1439. The city was awarded the dignity of a lord mayoralty by letters patent dat ...

, Henry Waring. The day was taken to celebrate the tercentenary of the first sighting of the Armada from the Hoe, but Richard Worth notes that this was actually on the 20 July. Excursion trains were run and crowds gathered for the ceremony, which was marked as a public holiday and banquet at the city's

Guildhall A guildhall, also known as a "guild hall" or "guild house", is a historical building originally used for tax collecting by municipalities or merchants in Great Britain and the Low Countries. These buildings commonly become town halls and in som ...

. The memorial was inaugurated by the then Duke of Edinburgh,

Alfred Alfred may refer to: Arts and entertainment *''Alfred J. Kwak'', Dutch-German-Japanese anime television series * ''Alfred'' (Arne opera), a 1740 masque by Thomas Arne * ''Alfred'' (Dvořák), an 1870 opera by Antonín Dvořák *"Alfred (Interlu ...

on 21 October 1890, with full civic pomp and imposing naval and military demonstration. The memorial became a listed building on 1 May 1975.

Architecture

The memorial was made by architect Herbert Gribble and sculptor William Charles May. The monument is sculpted of granite which frequently uses entablature and features sculptures and fittings made of bronze. The base of the monument has steps and is octagonal in shape. This supports a square plinth bearing a shield decorated with drapes and a crown. A panel shows the battle of the Armada inscribed with " HE BLEW WITH HIS WINDS AND THEY WERE SCATTERED". The tall plinth bears a wreathed medallion and a chest with a head, presumed by historian

Nikolaus Pevsner Sir Nikolaus Bernhard Leon Pevsner (30 January 1902 – 18 August 1983) was a German-British art historian and architectural historian best known for his monumental 46-volume series of county-by-county guides, ''The Buildings of England'' (1 ...

to be that of Spanish admiral Sedonia. On top of the monument stands the bronze statue of ''

'' (a female personification of Great Britain) with a lion. A series of cast-iron stanchions with chains act as a perimeter fence. The stone used in the memorial was quarried in

Gunnislake Gunnislake ( kw, Dowrgonna) is a large village in east Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated in the Tamar Valley approximately ten miles (16 km) north of Plymouth Gunnislake is in the civil parish of Calstock and is close to C ...

, Cornwall and was noted as one of the whitest known granites with a close texture (in 1897).

References

External links

* {{Use dmy dates, date=August 2016 Buildings and structures in Plymouth, Devon Naval monuments and memorials British military memorials and cemeteries Spanish Armada Sculptures of lions 1888 sculptures Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom 1888 establishments in England Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Grade II* listed buildings in Devon