Weymouth - King George III Memorial - geograph

King's Statue is a tribute statue to

King George III George III (George William Frederick; 4 June 173829 January 1820) was King of Great Britain and King of Ireland, Ireland from 25 October 1760 until his death in 1820. The Acts of Union 1800 unified Kingdom of Great Britain, Great Britain and ...

in Weymouth,

Dorset Dorset ( ; Archaism, archaically: Dorsetshire , ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is bordered by Somerset to the north-west, Wiltshire to the north and the north-east, Hampshire to the east, t ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

. It was installed in 1809, the year which marked the Golden Jubilee of King George III. The buildings on the seafront are mostly of Georgian architecture dating from the period he was in power. It is a Grade I listed monument.

History

Weymouth was much enjoyed by the King George III who would often take holidays there – a total of fourteen separate occasions, the first in 1789. With his patronage of the town, the king changed the fortune of Weymouth, and a lot of the buildings along the seafront are mostly of Georgian architecture during the king's reign. George III was originally advised to travel to Weymouth to consolidate his recovery from his first bout of serious physical and mental illness, sometimes now interpreted as

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. The court came with the King, and the national papers reported the event. As a result of the king's interest in the area, it was decided that Weymouth should have a statue in tribute to him. The idea was first raised in 1802 and a statue was soon designed and made – based on the designs of architect James Hamilton. However, the plan was put on hold after the king fell ill in 1805, with the structure being locked away. The year 1809 marked the beginning of the fiftieth year of the king's reign, which caused the statue to be erected in place. During the commissioning of the statue, plans were for the statue to be situated lower down and in front of a building, where the full quality of the work would be appreciated. However, the statue's location ended up being high and out of range. It was erected at the junction of the town's two main streets, St. Mary Street and St. Thomas Street. Today the statue remains on an island in the centre of the road close to the seafront. At first, the statue was delivered to Weymouth and assembled by the supplier four years before it was erected in its present position. Despite attempts to remove it, the statue remains a focal point of the town. In the early 20th century it became a gathering for public ceremonies and coronation celebrations. When the statue's location became a traffic island in the late 1950s, its role as a central gathering place was lost. In 2007/8, the statue was restored following vandalism, seaside weather, and 200 years of accumulated paint and dirt. Weymouth and Portland Borough Council, funded by the Heritage Lottery Fund, had awarded the contract for the monument's restoration to Osirion Building & Conservation Ltd. It was renovated by stripping 20 layers of paintwork, replacing it with new paints and

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, and replacing the iron framework with a

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one.

Design

The statue's figures and detail are sculpted in

Coade stone Coade stone or ''Lithodipyra'' or ''Lithodipra'' () is stoneware that was often described as an artificial stone in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. It was used for moulding neoclassical architecture, neoclassical statues, a ...

, the work of the firm Coade and Sealy, on a massive Portland stone pedestal. The King is dressed in Garter robes and holds a sceptre in his right hand. He is backed by various items, including the crown on a cushion, the Royal standard and Union flag, a pile of books and a large oval shield of arms. One each side is a further low pedestal which sits a lion and a unicorn. The front inscription reads "The grateful Inhabitants, to George the Third on his entering the 50th Year of his Reign." The statue was originally painted bronze and only became multi-coloured as late as 1948. The monument has not always been fully appreciated, where a long Southern Times report of January 1886, reviewing the unveiling of the statue to Sir Henry Edwardes, the journalist contrasted the new statue with "...that hideous monstrosity known as the King's Statue, about the removal of which many schemes have been from time to time suggested."

References

{{Authority control 1809 establishments in England 1809 sculptures Buildings and structures completed in 1809 Buildings and structures in Weymouth, Dorset Tourist attractions in Weymouth, Dorset Grade I listed buildings in Dorset Statues in England Monuments and memorials in Dorset Cultural depictions of George III Grade I listed monuments and memorials Sculptures of men in England Vandalized works of art in the United Kingdom Golden Jubilee of George III