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larger than life-size portrait statue of Edward VII wearing state robes. It surmounts a large stepped granite pedestal.

Many towns and cities responded to the death of Edward VII by organising memorial schemes. Some took the form of a fund to assist and extend the work of existing local charities, other communities decided to commission a memorial statue or bust. In Manchester a committee was set up in November 1910 to recommend the most appropriate tribute to the late King's life and reign. Reporting in the following May, it proposed a fund that would provide both a statue and charitable assistance to the old and poor in the city. The proposals were discussed at a public meeting called by the mayor, Charles Behrens, in the town hall. Significantly, it was announced that the statue would stand in Piccadilly on the site of the former Infirmary, land that was the centre of a long- running public debate. The cost of statue was not to exceed 5,000 guineas. Some criticisms were voiced about the idea of a statue but the proposals allowed subscribers to specify which element of the memorial scheme they wished to support. The scheme was accepted and contributions to the memorial fund requested. The memorial committee's plans, however, were to change when in October 1911 it was announced that a 'private citizen' had agreed to donate a statue of Edward VII to the city. The gift appeared to offer the possibility of using almost all of the memorial fund - some money would be required to meet the cost of installing the statue - to assist charities in the city. James Gresham was the anonymous donor. Gresham, the owner of a local engineering works, had previously donated John Cassidy's "Adrift" to the city. Cassidy had been commissioned by Gresham to provide a bronze statue of Edward VII in the previous year, it being Gresham's intention to present it to the city. Cassidy's model of the King in his robes of the Order of the Garter appeared acceptable, exemplifying the popular idea of 'Edward the Peacemaker', what proved to be less acceptable was its intended size. The memorial statue was to be enormous: 20 feet tall on a pedestal of 30 feet; easily exceeding the height existing colossal statues. But the misgivings over the statue were also linked to the intended site. Placing such a large statue in Piccadilly raised questions about its relationship to the existing statues but as importantly it also raised questions about the future use of this contentious public space. A large memorial statue might restrict some of the schemes being discussed for the site. A short leader in the Manchester Guardian examined the doubts surrounding the placing a 'giant effigy' in Piccadilly, doubts fed by memories of the disappointment that had greeted Onslow Ford's Victoria. Was Cassidy sufficiently talented to realise such a work? 'A twenty-foot statue in the centre of a city cannot afford to be medicre, it cannot even afford to, be respectably good; it must be great, or, it gibbets its sculptor and the municipality which sanctioned it.' Pressure to re- assess the intended statue mounted, and ended in the announcement that Cassidy was to scale down its size. Manchester was not to have one of the largest bronze statues in Britain. Equally importantly, the public debate over the future use of the former Infirmary site in Piccadilly led to the decision not to place the statue, even reduced in size, there. Manchester's Edward VII would not be positioned close to his mother but instead was to be located in Whitworth Park, more than a mile outside of the city centre. It was to be placed close to the Oxford Road entrance, facing towards the Royal Manchester Infirmary; a location that could be justifed by royal connections because the King had opened the new hospital on what proved to be his final visit to the city. Cassidy set to work on the model. By November 1912 he was sending out invitations to view the finished full-size clay model. Apart from size it differed in detail from the first model; Cassidy had removed some of the symbolism - the orb in the left hand had been entwined in a spray of olives and surmounted by a winged horse of Victory. Cassidy had also considered a Portland stone pedestal but this had been quickly replaced by granite. The statue was ready for casting. By the summer of 1913 consideration began to be given to the unveiling. Cassidy's merely colossal statue of Edward VII surmounting its massive grey granite pedestal was unveiled in October 1913 by the Lady Mayoress of Manchester, Lady Royse. The ceremony was well attended but appeared somewhat subdued compared to earlier inaugurations. The statue was stated as having cost £5,000.

Edward VII

circa

raw year

Condition

At risk

Inscriptions

Signatures

Statue

Bronze

300cm high approx

Pedestal

Granite

180cm square

Base

Granite

360cm square

Bird guano

Extensive on statue

Metallic staining

To figure

Cracks, splits, breaks, holes

weathering to pedestal

Graffiti

Extensive graffiti on pedestal-also used as billboard by fly posters