Statue of John Howard is a Grade I listed building in the Bedford local planning authority area, England. First listed on 14 May 1971. A Late C19 Statue.
Statue of John Howard
- WRENN ID
- young-moulding-gorse
- Grade
- I
- Local Planning Authority
- Bedford
- Constituency
- Bedford MP: Mohammad Yasin (Lab)
- Country
- England
- Date first listed
- 14 May 1971
- Type
- Statue
- Period
- Late C19
- Address
- Statue of John Howard, St Paul's Square, MK40 1AN
- OS grid reference
- TL 050 496
- Coordinates
- 52.13549, -0.46644
- Source
- Historic England listing
Description
The Statue of John Howard was erected in 1894 and designed by Sir Alfred Gilbert. It is made of bronze and stands on a plinth of limestone and sandstone, with bronze detailing.
The plinth is square in shape and sits on octagonal steps. The statue is a larger-than-life representation of John Howard, dressed in 18th-century travelling attire, and stands thoughtfully on a tall baroque pedestal that is supported by four octagonal steps. The pedestal has a base made of red sandstone and a limestone plinth that features decorative baroque bronze work, including cherubs holding grotesque masks at its corners. Above the plinth is a stylised stone urn with a plain capital, which has draped bronze brackets at its corners. An inscription on the east side of the urn reads: ‘JOHN HOWARD / 1726-1790 / 1890’. The foundry mark ‘BROAD & SON / FOUNDERS LONDON’ is cast into the south side of the statue base.
Local climate
Statue of John Howard sits in one of the driest parts of the UK, with an average of 690 mm of rain a year. This makes it drier than 95% of listed buildings in the UK. Its exposure to wind-driven rain is lower than that of 91% of listed buildings.
It experiences an average of 34 freeze-thaw cycles a year, more than 54% of listed buildings. Of these, 15 follow at least 1 mm of rain in the preceding 48 hours. Average temperatures at this location have risen by 0.3°C per decade since 1991.
Averages for 1991–2020; temperature trend 1991–2025. Figures describe the wider area (a grid cell of roughly 10 km), not the individual site. Contains modified Copernicus Climate Change Service information 2026.
More on this building
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- No EPC on record for this property
- No sale records on file
- No related consent applications matched
- Detailed attributes — period, style, materials, features
- Flood risk assessment
- Radon risk assessment
- Weather exposure and heating demand — rain and frost month by month and year by year, wind direction, solar and humidity
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