Statue of Edward VI (Cartwright)
Appearance
Statue of Edward VI | |
---|---|
Edward VI | |
Location | London |
51°29′59″N 0°07′08″W / 51.4998°N 0.1188°W | |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
Official name | Stone Statue of Edward VI |
Designated | 30 May 1979 |
Reference no. | 1319933 |
The statue of Edward VI by
Lambeth Palace Road in the 20th century. It was designated a Grade II* listed structure
in 1979.
History
Edward VI
Edward VI was the son of
Henry VIII and his third queen, Jane Seymour. Born on 12 October 1537, he succeed his father at the age of nine in 1547 but never attained his majority, dying aged 15 in 1553.[1] During the Reformation St Thomas', as a religious foundation, was deprived of its revenues and estates and was closed in 1540.[2] In 1551, Edward granted a charter for the hospital's refounding.[3]
St Thomas' Hospital
The origin of St Thomas' Hospital was the sick house attached to the
master mason and a governor of St Thomas', to undertake complete rebuilding.[6] Cartwright had worked as a mason for Christopher Wren at St Paul's Cathedral.[7] The new buildings, of red brick and in a classical style, were completed just after Clayton's death, in 1709.[4] The statue of Edward, along with its accompanying figures, decorated a gateway in the new complex. In 1872, following the complete reconstruction of the hospital on land further up the River Thames at Lambeth,[6] the statue was moved to the new site and has been repositioned subsequently.[8]
Description

The statue was commissioned by Robert Clayton, designed by Nathaniel Hanwell and carved by Thomas Cartwright.
The king is portrayed in Tudor clothing and wearing a crown. He holds a sceptre in his right hand and the charter authorising the re-establishment of St Thomas' in his left.[11][a] The statue stands on a modern plinth. The statue was listed as a Grade II* structure in 1979.[11]
Footnotes
- ^ At some point prior to a September 2013 photograph, the right arm had been damaged and removed. Photographic evidence shows that it had been repaired and replaced by February 2016.[11]
References
- ^ "BBC History – Edward VI". www.bbc.co.uk. BBC. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ "King's Collections: Archive Catalogues: St Thomas's Hospital: Medical school records". www.kingscollections.org. King's College. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ "St Thomas' Hospital". www.british-history.ac.uk. British History Online. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ a b "History of St Thomas' Hospital". www.florence-nightingale.co.uk. Florence Nightingale Museum London. Retrieved 12 December 2021.
- ^ "St Thomas' Hospital – British History Online". www.british-history.ac.uk.
- ^ a b "St Thomas' Hospital, London". International Network for the History of Hospitals. 17 February 2014.
- ^ a b Blackwood 1989, p. 36.
- ^ a b Cherry & Pevsner 2002, p. 361.
- ^ a b "PMSA". www.pmsa.org.uk. Archived from the original on 29 January 2019. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
- ^ Guy's and St Thomas' exhibits in new Science Museum galleries. Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. 9 December 2019. Retrieved 2 January 2022.
- ^ a b c Historic England. "Stone Statue of Edward VI (Grade II*) (1319933)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 29 January 2019.
Sources
- Blackwood, John (1989). London's Immortals: The Complete Outdoor Commemorative Statues. London: Savoy Press. OCLC 21328602.
- OCLC 50783156
External links
Media related to Statue of Edward VI by Thomas Cartwright at Wikimedia Commons