WHEN Neptune's statue was removed from Durham Market Place in 1923 because of the hazard it posed to traffic, it was perhaps surprising that the Man on the Horse remained.

This statue though not as old as Neptune having only arrived in 1861 compared to Neptune's 1729, was an equally imposing feature of the market place.

"Who is that guy?" ask visiting Americans, believing the horseman to be some kind of city father. The man on the horse is however a symbol of county rather than city history.

He is Charles William Vane Stewart (1778-1854), the third Marquis of Londonderry, a man with ancestral links to the old monarchs of Scotland.

The sculptor was an English-based Italian artist, from Milan, called Raphael Monti (1818-1881) who utilised a remarkable new technique in his monument to the Marquis.

The Galvano-Plastic or electroplating process involved embedding an electroplated copper covering on to a plaster base. The corroded copper gives the statue its green appearance. According to legend, Monti boasted that he would reward anyone who found fault with the masterpiece.

Many rose to the challenge, but no fault was found until, it is said, a visiting blind man was granted permission to inspect the statue. Hoisted up to the head of the horse, the man inspected it carefully with his hands before announcing to the astonished crowd that he had found a fault. The horse apparently had no tongue.

It is said that the sculptor was so devastated that he committed suicide. However, this well-known legend does not seem to be true and the horse does appear to have a tongue.

Like many historic figures commemorated in stone, the third Marquis was a military hero. Born in Dublin in 1778 and educated at Eton, he was a Major by the age of 17.

A great cavalryman, in 1808, he led the Hussar Brigade and was adjutant general to the Duke of Wellington. He fought in successful campaigns in Belgium, Holland, Portugal and Spain and was active as a diplomat in an age when Napoleon was a constant threat to European peace.

The Marquis inherited his title after the suicide of his famous older half-brother, Robert Stewart, Viscount Castlereagh (1769-1822), who was the second Marquis of Londonderry.

Castlereagh was British Foreign Secretary and Leader of the House of Commons and like his younger brother, a successful soldier.

Castlereagh had no direct link with Durham and the connection between the third Marquis and Durham only arose from his marriage in 1819 to Frances Anne-Vane Tempest, an heiress to estates in Durham and Ireland.

The Marquis took his wife's name, "Vane", as part of his own. The Vane estates in Durham included Long Newton village (where the Marquis is buried), and Wynyard Hall, both near the outskirts of Stockton.

However, it is the town of Seaham Harbour with which the Marquis is principally associated. After his retirement from military matters, the Marquis invested much time and money into the development of coal mines and railways in eastern Durham.

In Sunderland he entered into negotiations with the River Wear commissioners to obtain certain exclusive rights to the river for the exporting of coal. He was refused and rather angrily proclaimed he would "see grass grow in the streets of Sunderland".

By 1828, he had built a substantial port of his own called Seaham Harbour, to rival Sunderland, and although this did not bring an end to Sunderland's economic prosperity it proved a successful venture.

Unfortunately, his activities as a coal owner did not endear him to the miners. Very much a businessman of his time, the Marquis opposed all reform, banned inspections of his mines, opposed trade unions, broke Durham coal strikes with imported Cornish tin miners and objected to the raising of the school leaving age to 12, since many young boys were employed in his mines.

One of the staunchest Tories of his age, the Marquis had friends among the gentry. When he died in 1854 his widow set up a subscription committee for the building of a statue to commemorate his life. A total of £2,000 was raised and it was decided that a double life-size equestrian statue should be built.

A number of County Durham towns were considered for its location, including Seaham Harbour and Sunderland but Durham was eventually chosen. However, when the council in the city realised how big the statue was going to be, it panicked and unsuccessfully attempted to persuade the university to erect it on Palace Green instead.

Five local tradesman also objected and filed a lawsuit against the siting of the statue, believing that it would restrict free passage into the market place.

They failed in their suit, but the statue almost did not arrive at all. The sculptor, Monti went bankrupt and his creditors seized the statue, forcing the widow of the Marquis to pay £1,000 for its release.

It was eventually unveiled on December 2, 1861 hailed by the rifle volunteers of Sunderland, Seaham and Durham City. It has remained in the market place ever since, but had to undergo major repairs 90 years later, in 1951, and was absent from the city centre throughout that year.

A plaque added to the plinth of the statue was unveiled by the eighth Marquis in 1952 when the statue returned home.

However, the Man on the Horse would have to wait a further 39 years before his old colleague, King Neptune would also return to keep him company at the opposite end of the market place.

If you have memories of Durham including old photos or stories of people and places you would like to share with The Northern Echo, write to David Simpson, Durham Memories, The Northern Echo, Priestgate, Darlington, DL1 1NF. E-mail David.Simpson@nne.co.uk or telephone (01325) 505098.

Published: 19/09/2003