Cholera Monument

Monument, 1835 by Matthew Ellison Hadfield to commemorate those who died in Sheffield in the Asiatic cholera epidemic of 1832. Around 1900 alterations were made to the flying buttresses to provide greater stability. Major restoration in 2003 to 2004.

MATERIALS: local Rivelin gritstone; restored parts Cat Castle Buff sandstone from Dunhouse Quarries, Cumbria; limestone for the new sculptures from Harton Park Bottom Bed near Bath; stainless steel cross.

DESCRIPTION: not inspected, information from other sources. The Gothic Revival monument stands in Monument Gardens on a slight mound, overlooking the city below and at the south-west end of a straight axial walk. The ashlar stone structure is triangular in plan, similar to an Eleanor Cross. It takes the form of a spire rising out of the ground with a tall, slender shaft in three stages supported by buttresses and standing on a stepped base.

The first stage stands on a four-stepped base and has a two-stepped plinth. It is supported by buttresses which were originally open, but have since been filled in to form blank, pointed lancets. The central shaft has a larger blank pointed lancet to each face. The second stage has stepped buttresses and a cusped, ogee-headed niche to each face of the shaft. Each niche contains a statue (replacing the original statues, which were badly eroded and damaged). The statues represent Faith, with a wine goblet, Hope, with a Lamb of God, and Charity, with a wheat-sheaf. The third stage has a slender spire with blank pointed lancets with cusping and a steep pyramidal cap. The cap is topped by a stainless steel cross incorporated to replace the lost original.