Queen Elizabeth II statue unveiled in Newcastle-under-Lyme

12th October 202412th October 2024 NSTV News Team

A unique statue of Queen Elizabeth II has been unveiled in Newcastle-under-Lyme.

Commissioned by Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to mark the town’s 850^th anniversary in 2023, the design is based on photographs of Her Majesty taken during her visit to the town in 1973 to mark the 800^th anniversary.

The cost of the statue has been met by two donors. Staffordshire digger maker JCB and Capital&Centric, the developers currently working on the multi-million pound regeneration of Newcastle town centre, each donated half the cost.

Cast in bronze, the statue is one-and-a-quarter times life size, but, unusually for a memorial to a Monarch, stands only a few inches above ground level in the town’s Queens (crt) Gardens.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, took part in the unveiling. He said: “This wonderful statue of the late Queen Elizabeth is unique to Newcastle-under-Lyme and inextricably linked to our history and our celebrations of the town’s 850^th anniversary.

“Not only does it acknowledge our past links with the Monarchy, and the contemporary celebration of Newcastle-under-Lyme’s heritage, but it also looks to the future: I like to think that by our 900^th anniversary in 2073 this statue will be a notable and much-loved part of the town’s landscape and the young children here today will be telling their grandchildren how they were present for its unveiling.”

JCB Chairman Anthony Bamford said: “I am delighted to support the installation of this statue, commemorating the remarkable life of service of Queen Elizabeth.

“The late Queen visited Staffordshire many times during her reign and it’s wonderful to honour her in this way in our county.”

Tim Heatley, co-founder of Capital&Centric, said: “Newcastle is undergoing a renaissance with our multi-million pound plans to reboot three town centre sites.

“This new statue will provide another reason for people to visit and is a fitting way to commemorate the Queen’s visit.”

Local sculptor Andy Edwards is internationally renowned for a series of statues including the Beatles at Pier Head in Liverpool, Sir Stanley Matthews in Stoke-on-Trent, Sir Alex Ferguson in Aberdeen and ‘All Together Now’ – an installation of opposing soldiers shaking hands over a football to symbolise one of the most famous events of the First World War.

He based his sculpture on images of the Queen in Newcastle-under-Lyme on 25th of May 1973 and it is modelled on the hat, clothes and shoes the Monarch was wearing, as well as the posy and handbag she was carrying.

Mr Edwards said: “The loss of Queen Elizabeth is still deeply felt through the country and by countless people around the world.

“She was a symbol of duty, responsibility, constancy and dignity and I believe that people are comforted to be reminded that The Queen knew of the respect and deep affection in which she was so widely held. This artwork was commissioned and designed to express that connection.”

The statue, weighing one ton, stands close to a statue of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, which was unveiled by Grand Duke Michael of Russia in November 1903.

The unveiling ceremony was hosted by the Mayor of Newcastle-under-Lyme, Cllr Barry Panter, and those attending included His Majesty’s representative the Lord Lieutenant of Staffordshire Ian Dudson CBE; Tim Heatley, the co-founder of Capital&Centric; and JCB’s chief operating officer Mark Turner. Also present taking part were pupils from St Giles & St George’s CoE Academy in recognition of the fact the school once stood on the site of Castle House.