Queen Victoria Monument, Bronze monument in Wellington, New Zealand.
The Queen Victoria Monument is a bronze statue of Queen Victoria by Alfred Drury, standing 305 cm tall on a 410 cm Aberdeen granite plinth between Kent Terrace and Cambridge Terrace in Wellington. Victoria wears the Robe of State, a widow's cap with veil and a small crown, holding a royal sceptre and the Sovereign's Orb. The plinth has a projecting moulded cornice and a dark coat of arms framed by carved leaves and scrolls.
A memorial committee led by Governor Uchter Knox, Premier Richard Seddon and High Commissioner William Pember Reeves commissioned the statue after Victoria's death in 1901, choosing Alfred Drury after Hamo Thornycroft declined and Edward Onslow Ford died. Cast at the Morris Singer foundry in Frome, it reached Wellington on the SS Turakina on 10 April 1905 and was unveiled at Post Office Square by Lord Plunket on 29 April 1905. It was moved in 1911 to the median between Kent and Cambridge Terraces, and repaired before the 2001 centenary of the queen's death.
The plinth carries bronze reliefs showing scenes from New Zealand history, including the signing of the Treaty of Waitangi in 1840. These panels connect the monarchy to important colonial moments and show how the country understood its ties to the crown.
The monument stands in the Mount Victoria neighborhood between Kent Terrace and Cambridge Terrace and is freely accessible at all times. Regular maintenance work keeps the bronze and granite in good condition.
The statue is a replica of the version Alfred Drury created for Portsmouth in 1903, cast at the Morris Singer foundry in Somerset. From there it traveled thousands of miles across the ocean before being erected in Wellington.
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