Jubilee Memorial

The Jubilee Memorial is a 45-foot high square tower built in 1890, designed by architect J H Morton with sculptor John F Scott and monumental mason R B Farbridge. The tower, constructed from ashlar stone, rises in four stages and is designed in a classical style. The first stage is plain, featuring large semi-circular headed recesses on each face. The west face includes a tablet inscribed with "Erected in commemoration of Jubilee of H M Queen Victoria June 20th 1887, as a memorial of the beneficent work of the lifeboat as designed and built in South Shields in year 1790." The north and south faces originally housed fountains that poured water into basins at the base of the tower, although these basins have since been removed. The east recess has a door that provides access to the interior of the tower.

The second stage features pilasters positioned at right angles to the corners, with an entablature that breaks forward over them. The west face displays a medallion portrait of Wouldhare, while the east face shows a portrait of Greathead, both of whom are credited as the inventors of the modern lifeboat. The north and south faces depict reliefs of a shipwreck and the return of the lifeboat. The third stage, which is set back behind a balustraded parapet, includes a clock, and the fourth stage is topped with an open cupola.