Sutherland Monument, Trentham Gardens

Monument to the 1st Duke of Sutherland, installed at Trentham Gardens in 1836. The monument was designed by Charles Winks, and the full figure statue commissioned from the sculptor Sir Francis Leggatt Chantrey, and sculpted under the direction of Chantrey’s assistant, Joseph Theakston.

MATERIALS: built of limestone.

DESCRIPTION: the monument is prominently located on the top of Tittensor Hill (also known as Monument Hill) to the southern end of the estate. The monument comprises a three-metre tall limestone figure of the 1st Duke of Sutherland that is purposefully positioned looking north over his estate. He is sculpted wearing a long cloak, with his left arm resting on a stone support and his left foot set forward and partly over the round base of the statue. The round base is inscribed to its south side with the signature ‘CHANTREY SC’. The figure stands on a five-metre tall tapering column that is surmounted on a square pedestal, with chamfered corners to the dado, and a four step plinth. To the north face of the dado is a stone plaque with the inscribed epitaph:

IN LASTING MEMORIAL OF / GEORGE GRANVILLE / DUKE OF SUTHERLAND MARQUESS OF STAFFORD K.G. / AN UPRIGHT AND PATRIOTIC NOBLEMAN, / A JUDICIOUS, KIND AND LIBERAL LANDLORD / WHO IDENTIFIED THE IMPROVEMENT OF HIS VAST ESTATES / WITH THE PROSPERITY OF ALL WHO CULTIVATED THEM. / A PUBLIC YET UNOSTENTATIOUS BENEFACTOR / WHO WHILE HE PROVIDED USEFUL EMPLOYMENT / FOR THE ACTIVE LABOURER / OPENED WIDE HIS HAND TO THE DISTRESS / OF THE WIDOW, THE SICK AND THE TRAVELLER. / A MOURNING AND GRATEFUL TENANTRY / UNITING WITH THE INHABITANTS OF THE NEIGHBOURHOOD / ERECTED THIS PILLLAR / AD MDCCCXXXIV