Victoria Monument

Following the death of Queen Victoria in 1901, a Victoria Memorial Committee was established in Birkenhead to make arrangements for a memorial to the queen. An open space was created in the centre of Hamilton Square in 1903 by Birkenhead Town Council. The committee then discussed the form of the memorial to stand in its centre. It had been hoped to have a monument in bronze, but the amount of money raised was inadequate to provide this, and it was decided that the monument should be in the form of an Eleanor cross. Eleanor crosses were erected by King Edward I in the late 13th century to commemorate the life of his wife, Eleanor of Castile, and were erected on the sites where her coffin…

The monument is constructed in sandstone from Darley Dale. The steps on which it stands, and the columns in the second and third stages are in granite from Newry. The monument stands about 23 m high. It is in Gothic style. Each stage of the monument is octagonal. It stands on five steps, and consists of four stages, each stage being narrower than the stage below. The lowest stage is solid, and each side has a gabled canopy. In the front is an inscription reading as follows. }} Each of the other sides contains a coat of arms in relief, and its associated motto. In clockwise order from the front these are the arms and mottoes of Birkenhead, Cheshire, Wales, Ireland, Scotland, England, and the…