The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-24 00:00:00

The inauguration of the statue of the late Prince
Consort erected in the centre of Albert-square,
Manchester, took place yesterday. A committee
was appointed to undertake the work in January,
1862, and the offer of the then Mayor (Mr. Goadsby)
to present a marble statue, on condition of the city
affording a suitable site and finding money for a
pedestal and covering; was accepted. The statue,
which is by Mr. Noble, of London, and is of Sicilian
marble 9ft. high, representing the Prince in the
robes of the Order of the Garter, has, been completed
some time. The memorial building in which the
statue is placed, and the rich Gothic canopy over it,
were designed by Mr. Worthington, of Manchester.
The report presented to the committee yesterday
describes the work as follows :
The memorial building is raised sft. above the surface of
the street, on granite steps, occupying a square of 351 t.
The base of the structure is 20ft. square, and 15ft. bin. to
the platform, on which the pedestal, whiCh is 6ft., stands.
The entire height from the pavement to the summit of tho
vane is 80ft. Four open arches above the basement support
a grand canopy, forming a shrine, in the centre of which,
on a pedestal of coloured polished granite, stands the statue.
The four arches are surmounted by lofty gables, and the ex-
ternal angles aro abutted by four square piers or buttresses
rising in solid masonry to the level of the springing of the
great arches, above which level they disengage themselves,
and rise up as detached and elaborately eurichedpinnacles,
illustrating subjects in which the late Prince Consort took
active and practical interest. Each pinnacle has two stages
above the springing of the arches, the upper stage being
an open canopy supported on polished granite shafts; these
four canopies contain figures of Art, Science, Agriculture,
and Commerce. Art is supported by Music, Sculpture,
Painting, and Architecture; Science by Astronomy, Me-
chanics, Chemistry, and Geometry; Agriculture by Spring,
Summer, Autumn, and Winter; and Commerce by Europe,
Asia, Africa, and America. The four great gables contain
a circular open panel enriched, and in the three triangular
spandrils are medallions containing 12 heads, representa-
tive of Art and Science—Michael Angelo, Wren, Inigo
Jones, Raphael, Beethoven, Mendelssohn, Goethe, Schiller,
Milton, Shakspere, Tasso, and Dante. On the summits of
the four gables are winged angels, holding gilt trumpets;
the spire is banded with polished grey granite, and the
shafts of the main archway are of the same material. The
pedestal supporting the statue is of grey granite, with the
simple inscription "Albert" on the south side. On the centre
of the piers or buttresses are shields carved in stone re-
presenting the arms of England quartered with those of
Saxony differenced with the late Prince Consort's own
label of three points argent, charged in the central
point gules, alternated with the simple arms of Saxony
emblazoned with foliated bands and arched coronet
on a field barry of ten, or and sable. Each shield is sur-
mounted by the peculiar coronet of the late Prince, which
differs from the Imperial Crown in having eight instead of
four arches, rising from strawberry leaves and curved.
Each shield is encircled by the garter with the usual motto,
and below, on a label, is the motto, " Treu and fest."
These armorials are repeated in the eight angle panels of
the basement, and on the intermediate panels (of which
there are five) are carved the various crests of the Prince.
The memorial is enclosed by a rich and elaborate wrought
iron railing or grille, by Skidmore and Co. of Coventry.
The angles are encircled by gilt foliated finials, and
shields engraved with the arms are placed at intervals
along the cornice at the railings, a central one bearing the
full quartered arms emblazoned in colours. The memo-
rial bears the following inscription round the base :—" In
grateful acknowledgment of public and private virtues,
Albert, Prince of Saxe-Cobourg and Gotha, Consort of
Her Majesty Queen Victoria, erected by the inhabitants of
Manchester, A.D. 1866. The statue was presented to his
fellow citizens by Thomas Goadsby, Mayor of Man-
chester, 1861-2."
The total cost of the meinorialpaxdusive of the statue,
has been £6,249 15s. 4d.
The ceremony of inauguration was exceedingly brief
and simple. The committee met at the Town • hall at 1
o'clock, when Mrs. Goadsby, widow of the late Mayor,
read a few lines formally pi esonting the statue on behalf of
her late husband to the Mayor and corporation. The
committee and other gentlemen then went in procession to
a temporary building fronting the southern face of the
statue, and Dr. Fairbairn, C.E., read an address of inaugu- '
ration. Tho statue was then unveiled in the presence of a
concourse:of many thousand people, who cheered lustily.