On the lawn in front of the Salford Museum and Art Gallery stand two statues facing each other from opposite ends of the green space.  These statues of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert were created in Sicilian marble by the sculptor Matthew Noble.  It would be a reasonable assumption that they were erected as a pair at the same time but in fact they were erected seven years apart.



As you can see from the inscription on the granite plinth supporting Victoria's statue, her statue was inaugurated by Prince Albert in 1857 to commemorate her visit to Salford in 1851.  On that occasion, as the inscription explains, a choir of 80,000 children sang to the Queen in Peel Park and, it is claimed, a million people lined the streets.

Below is an image (shown here with the permission of Chetham's Library) that shows the statue at the centre of a more formal landscaping than you see today.

The photograph below, shown with the permission of the University of Salford, shows both statues in the 1960s.  Today the couple would have a great deal of difficulty seeing each other through the foliage.

Visit the "Manchester View" Homepage