Field Visit
Date 5 August 1999
Event ID 612390
Category Recording
Type Field Visit
Permalink http://canmore.org.uk/event/612390
Bronze statue of King Edward VII standing in ceremonial regalia (cloak, chain, hose): the robes of the Order of the Thistle. Left foot forward, left hand on hip, right hand holding a sceptre which rests back against his forearm. Atop tall stone pier with square cornice and tapering convex base out to stepped blocks, all within a granite-outlined raised circle.
A public meeting was called by the Provost of Leith for 13 June 1910, to discuss the proposed memorial to King Edward VII in Leith (1).
The Lord Provost of Edinburgh wrote a letter to the Town Council of Leith on 1 September 1910, stating that, at a meeting of residents of Edinburgh and the County of Midlothian, the following resolution had been passed: 'that there should be a Scottish National Memorial' to Edward VII (2)
Leith decided to proceed with their own memorial, however, and on 30 May 1913, the Secretary of the King Edward Memorial Fund Committee wrote to the Town Council of Leith asking for permission to erect a statue in Victoria Park (3)
The Town Council of Leith granted a site opposite Summerside Place, where a fountain stood; the fountain to be moved to the children's playground in the park. The Council also agreed to to provide foundations for the statue, and a railing for its protection (4)
The Leith Observer of 21 February 1914 reported that the model of the statue had been completed 'by John S. Rhind, sculptor, Belford Road, Edinburgh', and would 'shortly be dispatched, probably to Frome, to be cast in bronze.' (5)
The statue was unveiled by Lord Glenconner on 4 July 1914.
Edward VII, known as Edward the Peacemaker.
Inscriptions : On front of pedestal, on top panel (bronze applied letters): PEACE
On front of pedestal (bronze applied letters): ED[W]ARD / VII / 1901-1910
Signatures : At the foot of the right side of the statue (incised letters):
John S. Rhind / Sculptor 1914
Design period : 1913-1914
Year of unveiling : 1914
Unveiling details : Unveiled 4 July 1914 by Lord Glenconner
Information from Public Monuments and Sculpture Association (PMSA Work Ref : EDIN0098)
