Statues - Hither & Thither

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Carmarthen - Gaerfyrddin
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Nott Square

William Nott

Neath, Wales 1782 - 1845
British military leader in British India
(Wikipedia)

Edward Davis
1851

Description

Bronze statue of General Nott in military uniform with full-length draped mantle falling from shoulders, with his right hand on hip, and holding the helm of a sword with his left hand.

Inscription(s)

NOTT

born 20^th january, 1782
died 1^st january, 1845.

Signed: E. DAVIS sculp.

Annotation

The bronze statue was cast from cannon captured at the battle of Maharajpur and was presented by the East India Company. Queen Victoria gave 200 guineas to the memorial fund. The statue was finish and placed in Carmarthen in February 1851, but the inauguration had to wait until the Spring Assizes. It took much longer and in June the statue still was covered. "The Carmarthen Journal says that the statue of General Nott, in its present state, is a disgrace to the town. The very children call it the "ugly bogy in an old blanket. " Our contemporary wishes that the thief who stole the lion at Paris recently would pay Carmarthen a visit, and run away with the statue." (Preston Chronicle 14 June 1851).

The Carmarthen boys undertook action, as the Morning Post of 25 June 1851 described:

Premature Inauguration of General Nott's Monument.
The "martial cloak" which covered the statue of General Nott, at Carmarthen, and which was such an eye-sore to the inhabitants, and especially to the editors of some of our contemporaries, has met with an extraordinary fate. It appears that the St. Peter's boys were so irritated at the ludicrous exhibition, or rather non-exhibition, presented to their view, that they could not patiently wait the arrival of the day of inauguration, so they took it into their own hands to uncover the general, and expose the fine statue to the gaze of the inhabitants, and determined to do so by an act of auto da fe; and, on Sunday morning last [22 October 1851], the statue appeared divested of its old rug, and stood quite open to public view, only a little scorched and discoloured by the fiery ordeal which it had gone through. It appears that, as early as four o'clock on Sunday morning, some of the St. Peter's boys got inside of the railings surrounding the statue, and, as is reported, threw a quantity of turpentine over the cloak, and then set fire to it. However that may be, it readily took fire, and blazed well, as the flames alarmed several of the surrounding inhabitants, who, fearing there was a house on fire, got out of their couches and ran to their windows, where they had a full view of the entire destruction of the "martial cloak," and for the first time had the pleasure of seeing the beautiful statue of their fellow-towns-man. It has remained in this state ever since, nobody re-gretting the destruction of the old cloak, nor hardly enquiring who were the perpetrators of the mischief. — Cambrian.

PS. St. Peter's boys was the name given to all those born in Carmarthen within the sound of St. Peter's bells.

On the "official" unveiling, no information was found in the newspapers.

Sculptor

Edward Davis, British sculptor.

Sources & Information

Public Monuments and Sculpture Association, National Recording Project Database.
University College for the Creative Arts, VADS (Visual Arts Data Service).
Manchester Courier and Lancashire General Advertiser - Friday 15 February 1851; Preston Chronicle - Saturday 14 June 1851; Morning Post - Wednesday 25 June 1851 (British Newspaper Archive).

Locatie (N 51°51'21" - W 4°18'22") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gbwa055; Photograph: 25 July 2012
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
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© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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