Why did the Marquess of Londonderry’s statue disappear?

Photograph of the statue of the Marquis of Londonderry in the Market Place, late 1860s. (DCRO ref: D/Ph 156/1)

If you live in or near Durham you will probably recognise this statue. The man on the horse is the Marquess of Londonderry, whose full name was Charles William Vane Tempest Stewart. He was born in 1778. Londonderry was a soldier and he fought in many famous battles, so the statue shows him on a horse and wearing a military uniform. He also owned many of the coal mines in County Durham and spent lots of money to make them run better. He commissioned the building of Seaham Harbour so that the coal could be taken away and sold more cheaply and easily. He died in 1854.

The statue was unveiled in 1861, which means that it has been in Durham Market Place for nearly 150 years! This photograph was taken soon after the statue was put up. If you look closely, you can see that there are no inscriptions on the base. They hadn’t had time!

Something unpleasant happened to the statue about 100 years after this photograph was taken. Let’s investigate and see what it was!

Photograph of the statue of the Marquis of Londonderry being taken down for repair in the 1950s. (DCRO ref: D/X 765/1). Click on image to enlarge.

Look carefully at this photograph of the statue being removed from Durham Market Place.

1. Can you see why it needs repairing?

2. What do you think happened to cause this?

Now look at the base of the statue behind the horse’s head.

3. What is there now that wasn’t there in the first photograph?

4. Do you remember why it wasn’t there in the first photograph?

Now let’s look at the statue being repaired.

Photograph of the statue of the Marquis of Londonderry being repaired, c1950s. (DCRO ref: D/X 765/41). Click on image to enlarge.

Look carefully at this photograph of the statue being repaired.

1. What are the men at the top of the photograph doing to the head?

2. What is the man on the floor doing?

Have a good look at the statue now that we have the chance to see it close up.

3. What shape do the straps across the Marquess of Londonderry’s chest make?

4. What is underneath the horse’s saddle?

5. Is he actually holding on to the reins?

Now let’s look at a more modern photograph and see how the statue has changed.

Photograph of the Market Place in Durham with the restored statue of the Marquis of Londonderry. (DCRO ref: CC/Pl 1/245). Click on image to enlarge.

This photograph was taken in the 1960s, about ten years after the statue was repaired. Let’s study it to see what it tells us.

1. Look at the shelter to the right of the statue. What do you think all those people are waiting for?

2. What does this tell us about how the Market Place has changed? (Clue – were there any buses in the first photograph?)

3. Can you read the sign behind the railings in the bottom left-hand corner of the photograph? (Don’t forget you can look at an enlarged version of this photograph.)

So now we know a bit about the statue and how it has changed over time. Let’s look at another part of the Market Place’s history and see why it developed where it did.