Statue of Queen Victoria, Reading

The statue in 2015

The statue c. 1888, with a view down Friar Street in the background

The statue of Queen Victoria stands at the western end of Friar Street outside the Town Hall of Reading, Berkshire, in southern England.^[1]

The statue

The statue is carved from stone and stands atop a substantial plinth.

The subject

Queen Victoria (1819–1901) was the queen of many realms in the British Empire, and Empress of India. She is widely memorialised in statuary, throughout the former British Empire, and elsewhere.

The artist

George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929) was a Reading sculptor and director of H & G Simonds Brewery. He exhibited consistently at the Royal Academy.^[2] Simonds studied under Johannes Schilling in Dresden, and Louis Jehotte at The Academy of Brussels.^[3] He created over 200 pieces in many different media.^[3]

While The Falconer (1873) is in Central Park, New York, much of his larger work is to be found in or near Reading. Substantial pieces were also commissioned for Indian locations, Allahabad and Calcutta.

The Maiwand Lion (1866) in the Forbury Gardens is his, the Statue of George Palmer, now in Palmer Park and that of H. Blandy, another mayor of Reading.^[1] In 1922 he designed the war memorial at Bradfield, Berkshire, which commemorates the deaths in the First World War of those of the 2nd Battalion, South Wales Borderers, including his son.

See also

• Maiwand Lion
• The Falconer
• Statue of George Palmer

References

1. Margaret Baker. Discovering Statues. 1 Southern England. p. 10.
2. Margaret Baker. Discovering Statues. 1 Southern England. p. 9.
3. Raymond Simonds. "George Blackall Simonds (1843–1929)". David Nash Ford's Royal Berkshire History.

External links

Media related to Statue of Victoria in Reading at Wikimedia Commons

Coordinates: 51°27′24″N 0°58′13″W / 51.45656°N 0.97031°W