A photographic and historical view of the city of Derby and its surroundings

Mark Miley

Shop Front

Derby In Pictures

A photographic and historical view of the city of Derby and its surroundings

Mark Miley

Shop Front

Derby In Pictures

Statues & Street Furniture

Throughout the city can be found a number of statues and street furniture, some old and some new. This page aims to show a sample of these and will be added to as I find and photograph more of them.

Boy with A Ram

Illustration

This small, bronze statue currently resides in the River Gardens where it is mostly overlooked by passers -by. However it was originally commissioned and unveiled in 1963 to sit in the then newly built Main Centre. This new shopping area was designed to show the city moving into the modern era and it was felt that it needed a piece of art that would show this. As a result renowned Leicester-born sculptor Wilfred Edgar Dudeney (1911-1996) was tasked to come up with a figurine that would symbolise the city transitioning from old to modern. To do this he co-opted the cities most ancient symbol, that of the Ram. The ram is linked to the archaic folk ballad The Derby Ram, where an enormous mythical ‘tup’ (a male sheep) carries all before him. To this he added the figure of the young boy who is said to represent the people of the city His apparent taming of the ram suggests the renewal is in safe hands, and that nobody should be afraid of change. The future is here, but the more earthy past of our city will never be forgotten also shown by the solid granite base of the sculpture
The statue was moved to its current location in the River Gardens when the Main Centre shopping centre was demolished in 2005

Boy and Goose

Illustration

This unusual statue was once the centre piece of a fountain and drinking trough in the Market Place. Erected in April 1926 following the death of Liberal MP and former Mayor Sir Thomas Roe. In July 1909 his wife Emily had died leaving her estate to her husband. She left instructions that on his death £800 should pass to Derby Corporation ‘for the provision in his memory of a fountain and drinking trough for horses and dogs, either in the Market Place or at the station’. The statue at the centre of the drinking trough was modelled by eminent ‘sculptor and craftsman’ Alexander Fisher of Chelsea and cast in bronze
Apparently the choice of design was that 'Fountains suggest play and movement of water. The boy and goose reflect that very rhythm, movement and play.’
Although popular, once the market place was opened up to traffic the trough was in the way and was moved to the River Gardens where it remained until 1971 when it was dismantled and placed into storage. In 1977 it found a home in the newly built Assembly Rooms until eventually settling into its current home as the centre piece of the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Garden in 1996

Electrical Transformer

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This beautifully ornate piece of street furniture is actually an electrical transformer for the trolley buses which once ran throughout the town. It was made of cast iron in 1893 by Walter McFarlane of the Saracen Foundry in Glasgow. It can be found on Friargate

Boden's Pleasurance

The gates in the 2 pictures above once formed the entrance to Bodens Pleasurance, a small garden donated to the town by Mrs Boden of Friargate house in the 18th century in memory of her husband. Today the site is covered by bold lane multi-story carpark with the just the gates surviving largely unnoticed by the general public

Michael Thomas Bass

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This large bronze statue sits in Museum Square and was the towns first monument to a public figure. Michael Bass was one of the towns great benefactors and his statue stands outside the old Derby Free Library which was created using his gift of £25000. His figure stands looking down at the plan and deed for the libraryThe statue was created by sculptor Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm and was unveiled to the public in 1885. Originally in the Market Place it was moved in 1926 to the indoor entrance of the Museum on the Strand before taking up its current place in 1964 following the extension to the museumAn interesting story is attached to this statue and its near loss in 1941. At that time the government had issued a call for scrap metal to be donated for the war effort. Without informing anyone a Museum curator sold the statue for £27 to scrap dealer E. Barker and Co and it was taken away. Fortunately an observant passer-by noticed the head of the statue poking over a fence and alerted the authorities. A campaign from the Derby Telegraph resulted in the saving and reinstallation of the statue 

Charles Edward Stuart

This memorial to Bonnie Prince Charlie is the only equestrian statue of the prince in existence. It was unveiled in December 1995 to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the occupation of Derby by the Prince and his armyThe memorial was sponsored by local businessman Lionel Pickering, created by sculptor Anthony Stones, and cast by Pangolin Editions

The Derby Ram

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This large sculpture on East Street is carved from Millstone Grit and was created by Sculptor Michael Pegler in 1995. It was erected by the property developers Richardson Cordwell as part of the redevelopment of the Eagle Centre, now Derbion

War Memorial

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The Derby War Memorial was designed by Charles Clayton Thompson and stands on the Market Place. It features a bronze figure of the Virgin Mary holding the baby Jesus in her arms and was created by sculptor George Arthur Walker. It was completed in 1924 and unveiled on 11 November 1924.

Florence Nightingale

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This memorial to the famous Derbyshire nurse stands on London Road. It originally stood outside the cities main hospital however this has now closed. The beautiful marble statue and its surrounding wall was designed by sculptress Princess Feodora von Hohenlohe-Langenburg, Countess von Gleichen and is Grade II listed

All of the photographs contained in this website remain the property of Mark Miley and cannot be copied for commercial or promotional uses without prior written permission from Mark Miley.For information about using any of these photographs contact Mark Miley at moc.liamg%40seiknomkcatta  

Created by Mark Miley

All rights Reserved

All of the photographs contained in this website remain the property of Mark Miley and cannot be copied for commercial or promotional uses without prior written permission from Mark Miley.For information about using any of these photographs contact Mark Miley at moc.liamg%40seiknomkcatta  

Created by Mark Miley

All rights Reserved

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