Manual Ref* NFbreED003 Show image 846
Title*

Statue of Earl of Leicester (formerly)
County Norfolk   District Council Brecklands District Council 
Civil Parish or equivalent East Dereham  Town/Village* East Dereham 
Road High Street 
Precise Location On Corn Exchange 
OS Grid Ref TF984133  Postcode NR19 
Previous location(s) Destroyed in 1950 
Setting On Building  Access Public 
Artist/Maker Role Qualifier
Goggs of Swaffham  Architect(s)   
Hubbards of Durham  Builder(s)   

Commissioned by

 Public subscription lead by Mr. W. Freeman of Swanton 

Design & Constrn period

 1857 

Date of installing

  

Exact date of unveiling

 6 September 1857 

Category
Abstract Animal Architectural
Commercial Commemorative Composite
Free Functional Funerary
Heraldic Military Natural
Non-Commemorative Performance Portable
Religious Roadside, Wayside Sculptural
Temporary, Mobile Other  

Object Type
Building Clock Tower Architectural
Coat of Arms Cross Fountain
Landscape Marker Medallion
Mural Panel Readymade
Relief Shaft Sculpture
Statue Street Furniture War Memorial
Other Object Sub Type: Statue of Earl of Leicester

Subject Type
Allegorical Mythological Pictorial
Figurative Non-figurative Portrait
Still-life Symbolic Other

Subject Sub Type
Bust Equestrian Full-length
Group Head Reclining
Seated Standing Torso
Part Material Dimension
Statue  Single block of stone, weighing over seven tons.  Over life-size 

Work is
Extant Not Sited Lost

Owner/Custodian

  

Listing status
Grade I Grade II* Grade II Don't Know Not Listed

Surface Condition
Corrosion, Deterioration Accretions
Bird Guano Abrasions, cracks, splits
Biological growth Spalling, crumbling
Metallic staining Previous treatments
Other  
Detail: Head knocked off in lightning storm 22 June 1950, statue then removed

Structural Condition
Armature exposed Broken or missing parts
Replaced parts Loose elements
Cracks, splits, breaks, holes Spalling, crumbling
Water collection Other
Detail:

Vandalism
Graffiti Structural damage Surface Damage
Detail:

Overall condition
Good Fair Poor

Risk
No Known Risk At Risk Immediate
Signatures/Marks  
Inscriptions  

Description (physical)

 The statue is shown in old prints and photographs on top of the attic of the Corn Exchange, accompanied by a relief showing a plough and scythe. As at the nearly contemporary King's Lynn Corn Exchange that at Attlebrough was a variation on the Roman triumphal arch with Corinthian columns framing a single wide central opening, and rising to the pediment with the statue on the attic. 

Description (iconographical)

 The opening was covered in the Illustrated London News, 8 May 1857 443-4, where the article noted that Dereham has followed the trend by erecting a hall for the weekly market of farmers and merchants, with space for sixty stands, with at least fifty already taken. Roman façade with statue of late Earl of Leicester and Harley’s patent rough plate glass on body of hall, which could be used for concerts. The choice of a statue of Coke of Holkham (the Earl of Leicester) fifteen years after his death is continued testimony to his reputation as an agricultural reformer - for his monument at Holkham see NFnnHO003.  

Photographs

 Date taken: 
Date logged: 

Photographed by:

On Site Inspection

 Date: 

Inspected by:

Sources and References

 Dereham and Fakenham Times 22.6.50 notes that the statue of Coke of Holkham was decapitated by lightning, and 24.6.50 is to be demolished. Information and press cuttings from Cliff Alwright and Kitty Lynn, Dereham Antiquarian Society, Bishop Bonner’s Cottage  

Database

 Date entered:  15/5/2008

Data inputter:
Richard Cocke