Monument to George Cornewall Lewis

Heritage listing

Reason for designation: Grade II* as an imposing and exceptionally grand Welsh example of a Victorian memorial to a major figure in mid-C19 British politics. History: Erected in 1864; designed by John Gibbs of Oxford (designer of the Banbury Cross) with figure sculpture by W Forsyth. Partly restored in 1977. Commemorates Sir George Cornewall Lewis (1806-63), the local politician who lived at Harpton Court; he was MP first for Herefordshire and then for Radnor, rising immediately to become Chancellor of the Exchequer under Palmerston and was afterwards Home Secretary and Secretary of State for War. Inscription reads: "To the memory of her [Radnorshire s] most distinguished son ...." Exterior: 21m high; extravagant Gothic style in a Ruskinian manner and in the style of Eleanor Crosses. The octagonal stem rises from a stepped platform and is enriched all around by a profusion of niches, gabled to the lower stage. In these are statues of Fortitude, Prudence etc. Weathered marble colonnettes. Band of glazed tiles below and openwork spire to the top. Location: Striking monument on a large scale situated at the Y-junction between Broad Street and Water Street at SE end of the village; reached N off A44.

From Cadw under OGL v3.