Statue of Father Thames

This statue was previously erected by the supposed source of the Thames. As that is just a grassy hollow (Gloucestershire people know that the real source is at Seven Springs) it was decided to move it to near the river, and it was placed by St John's Lock.

The Truth about Father Thames...

'Queen Victoria opened the new Crystal Palace at Sydenham on 10 June 1854. This followed the success of its predecessor built in Hyde Park for the Great Exhibition in 1851. Today one relic from Sydenham is here in Gloucestershire; two more are over the border in Oxfordshire; all three are sculptures. What is known about them?

The contents of the Fine Arts Courts at the new Crystal Palace were intended to refine the taste of the people and increase their knowledge of ornament and colouring. How patronising that sounds today. New works were commissioned and over 1000 copies collected of the best statuary.

In 1853 Raphael Monti sculpted eight allegorical figures to adorn the two large fountain basins on the Italian Terrace in the Palace grounds. Four statues, representing the Arctic, Atlantic, Indian and Pacific Oceans were placed around one basin, and four, representing the rivers Amazon, Ganges, Nile and Thames, around the other. The last named is now here at St. John's Lock, Lechlade.

A series of twenty six statues along the Upper Garden Terrace represented countries and cities. One, Egypt, was sculpted by Carlo Marochetti, perhaps better known for his statue of Richard the Lionheart at Westminster. Another, by the French sculptor, Antoine Etex, represented Marseilles. Both are now in the grounds of Faringdon House. Why are they there?

The second Crystal Palace Exhibition initially was a great success, significantly influencing artistic life in the second half of the nineteenth century. With its botanical displays, elaborate formal gardens, grand musical events and astonishing waterworks, it was England's first entertainment mall and theme park, visited by millions. Thereafter, increasingly difficult times followed, culminating in the disastrous fire of 1936.

Remaining statues and vases from the terraces and grounds were sold to the public in 1957. Mr Robert Heber-Percy, eccentric owner of Faringdon House, bought his two figures for £1.10s.0d each (one can be clearly seen from the Radcot Road, mounted on a former pillbox). Mr H. Scott Freeman, Senior Conservator of the River Thames and with the co-operation of Mr H Phillips, the owner of Trewsbury Mead (nominal source of the Thames), installed it there in 1958. Increasing vandalism led to it being removed for repair and relocated at Lechlade in 1974. On its way it inadvertently acquired a small measure of sexual equality: the Gloucestershire mason, Ronald Packer, modelled its new foot on that of his wife!

Based on research carried out by Theo Stening and published in Newsletter-36, June 2004 of the Cirencester Decorative & Fine Arts Society.

Photograph taken by Stephen Atty and was added to the database before Saturday the 1st of January, 2005

Licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike licence, see the terms of use

This photo is one of 7 of St. John's Lock on the River Thames (above Oxford) [Previous | Next]