A giant statue of Lord Collingwood overlooking the mouth of the River Tyne. The figure is broadly treated and massive enough to be viewed by mariners at sea. Collingwood, dressed in an admiral’s uniform and draped in a cloak, stands on top of a high yellow stone pedestal. On either side of the pedestal are four canon taken from the Royal Sovereign. The stonework has become badly worn and is need of conservation.
At the close of the French Wars, Newcastle, unlike other towns and cities in England, had its own home-grown naval hero to commemorate, Admiral Lord Collingwood. Accordingly, there is an elaborate Collingwood monument by Rossi in St Nicholas’ Church (1821) and a full-length portrait by Lonsdale in the Exchange in Sandhill. In addition one of the first of Newcastle’s modern streets, laid out in 1809-10, is named after him. However, it was not until 1838 that, inspired by the publication of G.L. Newnham’s Memoirs of Vice-Admiral Lord Collingwood, a writer to the local press proposed a large outdoor monument in the shape of a column, with or without a statue, on the western part of Newcastle Town Moor. Later in the year at a meeting in the Assembly Rooms, Newcastle, this was given support, much being made of the fact that Newcastle seemed in danger of being upstaged by the London where plans were afoot to erect a monument to Nelson in Trafalgar Square. It was therefore resolved at once to establish a public subscription for a ‘Memorial in some eligible Situation’. In September 1838 subscribers were shown the model which John Graham Lough had submitted (unsuccesfully) to the judges in the Nelson Monument competition and they decided that this, sited in St Nicholas’ Square, Newcastle, would be suitable. ‘It was stated that the expense of the Monument, according to the design for the Nelson Statue, would be about £2,600; but as the Committee were of the opinion that the four recumbent figures could be dispensed with the expense would be very much reduced.’ However, in September 1839 an altogether different site was proposed: at the south-east corner of the burying ground at Tynemouth. Two letters appeared in the Newcastle Journal explaining why this was preferable. The first from ‘Blue Jacket’ cited the new Nelson monument at Yarmouth to argue that a monument on a marine site, rather than in ‘some vile confluence of brick and mortar avenues’ in Newcastle, would be ‘worth a dozen press gangs’. The second from ‘an ardent admirer of the noble admiral and an old sailor’ made a similar point; a Newcastle monument would be nothing more than an ornament for Richard Grainger’s ‘City of Palaces’ whereas one at the coast would be seen by the crews of ‘upwards of twenty thousand ships’ a year. The letter also noted how as a boy sailor Collingwood had looked out with tear-filled eyes from his ship at ‘the fast receding image of that ancient “Sea Mark”, the ruined Priory of Tynemouth’. Eventually, in August 1840, the Memorial Committee decided that the Tynemouth site was indeed the better option and at the same time confirmed the London-based but locally-born Lough as sculptor. By 23rd April 1842 Lough had completed a model for the statue at his studio in Melcomb Place, Dorset Square, London. It was described as being ‘of the heroic size, but much less than the statue itself’. Lough, an anonymous writer reported, ‘has given a classical appearance to the statue, by partly clothing the figure in a boat-cloak, the folds of which are boldly modelled, and made to hang with grace and dignity. By this means the angular lines and uncompromsing inelegance of modern dress are got rid of, and yet the character of the portrait preserved as to costume.’ Three years later, in August 1845, the statue, weighing 30 tons and 21 feet in height, was landed at Tynemouth from the Halcyon, a London trader (the same ship, as it happens, that had brought E.H.Baily’s Earl Grey to Newcastle in 1838) and straightaway placed on its pedestal. The latter, designed by the Newcastle architect, John Dobson was by then complete except for the flight of steps leading up to the terrace at its foot on which it was planned to place canon taken from the Royal Sovereign, Collingwood’s ship at Trafalgar. From the start the Monument was badly received. Firstly, there were worries about the site. Secondly, a letter in November 1842 to the Committee from the Junior Honorary Secretary, John Fenwick, claimed that engineers and the Board of Ordnance were convinced that the cliff was gradually falling into the sea and thus ‘no one can insure [the Monument’s] standing beyond a Period equal to the existence of the present Generation.’ Thirdly, when at last the Monument was finished, there was disappointment with the design itself. ‘The proportions,’ it was said, ‘are colossal, and the pillar on which it stands is comparitively low. The effect, therefore, is not so good as it might be. “Thrift, thrift, Horatio.” The lowness of the pillar arises from the lowness of the funds.’ Indeed, by the end of the 1850s when plans for a George Stephenson Monument in Newcastle (TWNE38, qv) were being discussed, there was general agreement that the Collingwood Monument, and in particular Dobson’s pedestal, was a disaster. Even the addition of the four canon in 1848 was criticised; they did nothing more, it was said, than furnish ‘lounges for our quiet Tynemouth visitors, and our sonnet-mongers with subjects for their muse.’
Cuthbert Collingwood (1748-1810) was born at the Side, Newcastle and educated at the Grammar School. He joined the Navy at the age of thirteen and from 1761 to 1786 was almost constantly at sea. In 1791 he married a member of the Blackett family and settled in Morpeth. During the French Wars he again saw almost continual service, particularly distinguishing himself at the battles of Cape St Vincent (1797) and Trafalgar (1805) where he was Nelson’s second-in command. For his ‘valour, judgement and skill’ in the last of these, he was rewarded with a peerage and the freedom of various cities. He died at sea and was given a state funeral and a monument in St Paul’s.(1)
Inscriptions
Incised on black marble slab on south face of dado: THIS MONUMENT / was erected in 1845 by Public Subscription to the memory of / ADMIRAL LORD COLLINGWOOD, / who in the “Royal Sovereign” on the 21st October 1805, led the British Fleet / into action at Trafalgar and sustained the Sea Fight for upwards of an hour / before the other ships were within gunshot, which caused Nelson to exclaim / “SEE HOW THAT NOBLE FELLOW COLLINGWOOD TAKES HIS SHIP INTO ACTION” / He was born at Newcastle Upon Tyne 1748 and died in service / of his country, on board of the “VILLE DE PARIS” on 7th March 1810 / AND WAS BURIED IN ST. PAUL’S CATHEDRAL. / THE FOUR GUNS UPON THIS MONUMENT BELONGED TO HIS SHIP THE / “ROYAL SOVEREIGN”
Contributor details
| Contributor | Role |
|---|---|
| Lough, John Graham | Sculptor |
| Dobson, John | Architect |
Element details
| Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
| Pedestal | White Portland stone | 1500cm high x 555cm square |
| Statue | Stone | 700cm high |
| Steps to pedestal | Stone | 225 cm high x 1290cm square |