I have eaten my saturday shopping sausage and chips in its shadow.
It has been the hub for many a political and environmental demonstration and a focal point for civic and other celebrations including the triumphal reception for Hull City AFC upon their ascension to the Premier League in 2008 and in the Year of UK City of Culture.
It is of course the Landmark Statue of Queen Victoria in the centre of Kingston Upon Hull.
Therein lies an interesting bit of history.
If you study the old town maps for Hull in the latter years of the illustrious reign of Victoria that part of the City Centre was very different- in fact a bit of a slum.
It was a maze of alleys of poor quality housing, dark and threatening alleys and passages, declining businesses, a haze of smoke and some interesting and unpleasant odours.
The Dock Offices fronted Junction Street and the function of the locality was aptly explained in the road names of Waterworks and Engine Streets. The exact position of the monument was previously occupied by what appears to have been a Post Office and as part of a larger block including a public house. The only name recognisable to me on the old maps is New Cross Street, a short thoroughfare to what was Queens Dock.
For a major Port and Regional Town this mish-mash of buildings and uses was a big embarrassment to the Councillors and people of Hull. A statement of Civic ambition and aspiration was needed and in 1900 the Junction Scheme was proposed. This was intended to create a Grand Square for the City and at its heart would be a memorial to the recently deceased Monarch.
In a Public Appeal in 1901 some £15000 was raised for the erection of a monument. The Reckitt family contributed £5000, Joseph Rank £2000 and with several other wealthy folk each giving £1000.
The commission for the statue went to Henry Charles Fehr who had already provided a similar statue in Liverpool and with the wider project to James Glen Sivewright Gibson, Architect.
Fehr was a major appointment with his specialism being historical and civic figures and a number of notable War Memorials. J S Gibson was similarly accomplished in his work.
The larger than life bronze figure of Victoria in bronze mperial robes was mounted on a Portland Stone plinth giving a towering height of 35 feet. At her side sat smaller figures depicting the Mistress of Seas and Dominion of Land. It was unveiled by the Prince and Princess of Wales in 1903. Within 6 years the statue was joined by completion of Hull City Hall, an imposing and classically styled building which to this day retains it importance to the cultural life of its population.
All seemed well and good for Hull with its status and due respect to the life of Victoria but in 1923 there arose much debate in the City Council Chamber over its relationship with further improvements in the Square.
This was because of the design for new subterranean public lavatories.
A few Councillors of a sensitive nature questioned whether the proximity of the toilets to the statue was in the interests of the moral welfare of the City. One member of the opposition claimed to have sounded out the King's Secretary on the subject and although declined to offer up the correspondence as irrefutable proof he stated that the scheme would be regarded with Royal disfavour.
The City Architect, Mr Joseph Hirst, pointed out that the statue did long pre-date the proposals for the new amenities which would be of a commensurate high standard of design and materials to compliment the existing street scene. There would be no detraction from the aim of achieving Civic Grandeur.
In fact, and to act as a visual aid those debating the contentious issue, Hirst stated that the actual area of the underground chambers would be as big as the Council Chamber itself.
Misleading statements in the media had, it was argued, stirred up a lot of public fervour but in a Council Chamber Vote the motion to relocate Victoria was defeated.
The scheme was completed with much approval in 1925 and to this day Queen Victoria remains on the toilet.
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