Description

SE2933SE
714-1/77/108
26/09/63

LEEDS
CITY SQUARE
Statue of The Black Prince

GV
II*

Equestrian statue. Erected 1903. T Brock, sculptor. 2-stage
plinth of polished granite, bronze plaques and statue.
Bronzework details include: band around plinth base with
relief moulding of lion masks and scrolls with the names:
'JOHN WICLIF/ JOHN CHANDOS/ SIR WALTER DE MAUNAY/ WILLIAM OF
WYKEHAM/ CHAUCER/ FROISSART/ JACOB VAN ARTEVELDE/ BERTRAND DU GUESCLIN'. On the die the front plaque has the words: 'EDWARD/
PRINCE OF WALES/ SURNAMED THE BLACK PRINCE/ THE HERO OF/ CRECY AND POITIERS/ THE FLOWER OF ENGLAND'S CHIVALRY/ THE UPHOLDER OF THE RIGHTS OF THE PEOPLE/ IN THE/ GOOD PARLIAMENT/1330-1376';
on the rear: 'THE GIFT OF/ T. WALTER HARDING/ LORD
MAYOR/ 1898-1899/ ERECTED/ 1903/ T.BROCK RA Sc.' Plaques on
each side of the die depict a land and a sea battle. Deep
moulded cornice surmounted by an over life-size mounted figure
in full armour.
HISTORICAL NOTE: Colonel T Walter Harding was the owner of the
Tower Works, Globe Road (qv) manufacturing steel pins for
carding; he initiated the laying-out of City Square, designed
by William Bakewell and completed 1902, the year of Edward
VII's coronation and the end of the Boer War. This statue is
almost certainly a tribute to Edward VII who, as Prince of
Wales, opened the General Infirmary in 1867 and the Yorkshire
College buildings in 1885, (as king he opened the first new
Leeds University buildings in 1908). The association of Edward
VII with 'the successful efforts of generations of West
Yorkshiremen to establish the highest form of education in the
region, especially the sciences and arts related to the major
local industries' (Linstrum p.237) is represented by the names
of contemporaries of the Black Prince (d.1376), who were
outstanding politicians, diplomats, churchmen and founders of
colleges and schools.
(Linstrum, D: West Yorkshire Architects and Architecture:
1978-: 237, 352).

Listing NGR: SE2989933435

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q17533834

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Listed Buildings, Conservation Areas and Monuments
• 
  Sussex: West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Department for Communities Listed Historic Buildings of Northern Ireland: Information Guide for the 2nd Survey of Historic Buildings
• 
  Yorkshire West Riding: Leeds, Bradford and the North (Pevsner Architectural Guides / Buildings of England)
• 
  Old House Handbook 2 Books Bundle Collection (Old House Handbook: A Practical Guide to Care and Repair,Old House Eco Handbook: A Practical Guide to Retrofitting for Energy-Efficiency & Sustainability)
• 
  Lancashire: Liverpool and the South-West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)