Statues - Hither & Thither

Site Search:

Cheltenham
Gloucestershire
South West England

Montpellier Walk

King Edward VII (The Drew Fountain)

London 1841 - London 1910
King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions and Emperor of India, 1901-1910
(Wikipedia)

Ambrose Neale & R. L. Boulton & Sons
1914

Cheltenham / King Edward VII (The Drew Fountain)

Description

Sicilian marble statue of King Edward VII in Norfolk suit helping a poor girl. Standing on an oval granite base with lion's head taps to drinking bowls on three faces.

Inscription(s)

E·R
1914

In Memory of
H.M. KING EDWARD VII.
"The Peacemaker."
1901-1910
Presented to the town of
Cheltenham by the late
J.W. Drew Esq. and M^rs. Drew,
of Hatherley Court Cheltenham.

Annotation

J.W. Drew announced his gift to the town of Cheltenham with a letter to Mayor of Cheltenham, who presented it to the Town Council (breaking the wish the concluding paragraph of the letter) at the meeting of 3 February 1913:

The enclosed is a photograph of life-size group which Messrs. Boulton have been al work for the last six months for my wife and me. It represents the late King Edward as the Spirit of Peace leading the Spirit of Mischief to the still waters, and when copied will be the principal ornament and form the top of a drinking fountain. There is nothing original about the rest of the fountain. The bottom part will be a copy of the fountain for dogs and horses now outside the Belle Vue Hotel on the London Road. The middle part will be for human beings to drink from. It will probably be completed about another six months. If we present it to the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of Cheltenham, will they find a site for it and water to run it. We see no necessity for our names appear in the matter.

Mr. Joseph Webster Drew dead a few months later at the age of 58 on 17 June 1913.

Sculptors

Richard Lockwood Boulton (Thornton Dale, Yorkshire c. 1832 - 1905), Sculptor, architectural sculptor, stonemason, of c. 1870 in Cheltenham.
Richard's sons became sculptors and stone carvers working for the family business: Lockwood Dutson Boulton (1857-1927) and Thomas Dutson Boulton (1860-1932) who were both born in Birmingham and Gilbert Dutson Boulton (1865-1936) and Frank Cowley Boulton (c.1877-?) both born in Cheltenham. The four sons inherited the firm on their father's retirement in 1893 and were working together at the time of their father's death in 1905 (the firm continued to be active until at least 1971) (Mapping of Sculpture).
Ambrose Neale (ca. 1868 - Brockworth 1930 [car accident]), chief artist of Messrs. R. L. Boulton & Sons.

Sources & Information

British Listed Buildings, Listed buildings in England.
Cheltenham Looker-On - Saturday 8 February 1913 and Saturday 7 November 1914 (British Newspaper Archive).

Locatie (N 51°53'41" - W 2°4'57") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gbsw006; Photograph: 23 July 2012
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
If you want to use photos, please contact us via the contact form (in Dutch, English or German).
© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

Your banner here? Click for information.