IN our spring special a fortnight ago, we visited Wharton Park with its spectacular views across Durham and we wondered about the headless statue which greets visitors as they enter the park from North Road.
It is in front of an oak planted in 1863 for a royal wedding, and on its plinth it says that it is of “Albert the Good”. This suggests that it may be of Prince Albert, the husband of Queen Victoria.
READ FIRST: PARK WITH THE MOST GLORIOUS VIEWS IN THE KINGDOM, AND THE STATUE WITHOUT A HEAD
However, as the hands of the headless statue are holding the orb and the sceptre, which are the symbols of a British monarch so would not be held by a consort like Prince Albert, some people have speculated that it could have been a statue of Victoria herself.
William Lloyd Wharton, who gave the park to the city in 1858, was a big fan of Prince Albert, who died in 1861.
On March 10, 1863, Mr Wharton planted a tree at the park entrance to commemorate the wedding of the Prince of Wales, who later became King Edward VII, and Princess Alexandra of Denmark. Mr Wharton, of Dryburn Hall, made a long speech expressing his admiration for Prince Albert but at no time did either he, or newspaper reports of the day, make any reference to any statue.
Indeed, people with memories stretching back to the 1930s and 1940s, say they can remember a time when there was no statue in front of the oak.
The statue doesn’t appear until around the start of the Second World War, and no one records where it comes from or what it represents. And when it does appear, it has a head.
Indeed, following the article, Mark Nimmins looked out a picture showing the statue with its head attached.
“It was taken by my wife's grandfather, Arthur Robbins,” says Mark. “It is from a 35mm Agfa colour slide with a plastic mount that I think dates it to late 1960s/early 1970s.”
This was around the time that the statue lost its head, presumably to vandalism.
Mark’s picture disproves the Queen Victoria theory – the statue appears to have a beard.
So if you can tell us anything more about this apparently mystery headless statue, we’d love to hear from you. Please email chris.lloyd@nne.co.uk
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