Grey's Monument is a Grade I-listed monument in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was built in 1838 in recognition of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834. In particular, it celebrates the passing of the Great Reform Act 1832, one of Grey's most important legislative achievements. The act reorganised the system of parliamentary constituencies and increased the number of those eligible to vote. The monument is located at the junction of Grey, Grainger and Blackett Streets and has a total height of 133 ft (41 m). It was funded via public subscription and consists of a statue of Earl Grey on a pedestal standing on top of a Roman Doric column. The column was designed by local architect, Benjamin Green, and the statue was created by the sculptor, Edward Hodges Baily. A contemporary report of the unveiling ceremony described the monument as "a fine imaginative work of art" and other 19th century commentators praised it as "a noble effort of genius" and as having "a most commanding appearance". However, its location, then at the centre of the city's tram infrastructure, was criticised as unsuitable, with one newspaper declaring that "in its present situation, it will be a great nuisance" and, in the 1920s, there were calls to move the column to improve traffic flow. In 1981, the nearby station on the Tyne and Wear Metro was named after the monument. The pedestrianised area around the base is a popular meeting place and is used as a speakers' corner.
History
Context Grey's Monument was erected in recognition of the tenure of Charles Grey as Prime Minister. Earl Grey represented Northumberland in Parliament from the age of 22. He was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1806, and later Leader of the House of Commons. In 1830 he was invited to form a government and became Prime Minister. It was during his time as Prime Minister that he passed the Reform Act 1832, which brought about constituency reform and extended the right to vote. Grey's Monument was constructed when Grey was still alive and had retired from politics.
Conception and planning A monument to Earl Grey was first proposed by the Newcastle-based architect, John Green, in 1832. Green envisaged a statue in Northumberland Square, North Shields, depicting Grey in parliamentary robes, holding the Magna Carta. He sought public subscriptions for his scheme in the Newcastle Chronicle on 16 June 1832:
Instead of expressing our grateful Joy in the childish Barbarism of wasteful and dangerous Illuminations, which blaze for an Hour and are forgotten for ever; let us erect a Monument that shall commemorate to future Ages our Gratitude to the Friend of the People! the Prince of Patriots! and the Honour of Northumberland, EARL GREY!!! The proposal was initially met with enthusiasm, although some Reformers were hesitant to commemorate an individual, instead preferring to erect a monument to the cause of the Reform movement itself. Alternative sites for the monument were proposed, including Rimside Moor in Northumberland. The eventual site of the monument in central Newcastle was chosen as part of a local improvement plan proposed by Richard Grainger. In his plan, Grainger proposed to erect a statue not of Grey, but of an idealised figure. However, in 1834, Earl Grey was proposed as the subject of the statue. A public meeting took place on 6 October, chaired by William Ord, "to take into consideration the propriety of entering into a subscription, for erecting in a public situation in his native county, a statue, or other memorial, to the memory of the Noble Earl". There was unanimous support for the monument and £500 was raised on the day. One of the subscribers to the final monument was Whig politician and Irish political leader Daniel O'Connell. The final location of the monument was slow to be approved, due to indecision from the council. There was also some lack of approval of Earl Grey himself; he was not as popular as he had been around the time of the Great Reform Bill's passing, and after leaving politics in 1834 Grey had focussed on a quiet life outside of the public sphere. Plans for Grey's Monument were approved by Newcastle Town Council on 14 September 1836. In the same meeting, it was agreed that the location of the monument would be at the top of Upper Dean Street, which would be renamed "Grey Street". Councillor Charnley spoke about the location of the monument, saying:
"It must be well known to most of us that great anxiety has been felt to fix upon a proper situation for the monument; and after long deliberation, the Committee have come to the resolution that the place proposed is the fittest and most appropriate in Newcastle. It will be for you to decide whether, in your judgement, the Committee have come to a proper determination". Benjamin Green, John Green's son, designed the monument's column, which was to cost £1,600. The architects initially intended for the monument to be taller, but the height was limited by the amount of money raised via subscriptions. Edward Hodges Baily was commissioned to design the statue of the Earl which cost £700.
Construction and unveiling Joseph Welch, who had previously built the Ouseburn Viaduct and Bellingham Bridge, was in charge of building the monument. The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1837 by both John and Benjamin Green. A time capsule was buried at the time of the monument's construction. It contained a hermetically sealed glass bottle which contained a drawing of the structure, a collection of coins, local medals and tradesmen's tokens donated by John Ralph Fenwick, and a list of the monument's subscribers Following the completion of the column on 11 August 1838, the Earl and Countess Grey visited Newcastle and were reported to have shown "evident signs of pleasure" when viewing the structure. On 24 August 1838, the statue of Earl Grey was placed on top of the column. It was transported from London by Halcyon, a trader based in Newcastle, and moved to its base from the quay of the River Tyne by two wagons. Church bells rang throughout the day to commemorate the occasion, although Earl Grey did not attend. In November 1838, the scaffolding encasing the monument was removed.
Design
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