FOR more than 90 years, King Edward VII’s statue has enjoyed pride of place overlooking the Mersey at Liverpool Pier Head.
But even a monarch cannot be allowed to stand in the way of progress, and yesterday the man who ruled the British Empire for nine years from 1901, took a flying leap to a new home.
The statue of King Edward VII astride a horse was hoisted from its granite plinth to make way for the new canal being built across the Pier Head.
It will be placed into secure storage, along with other public works of art at the riverfront, and returned to the Pier Head next year when the building work is finished.
A second piece of work, a memorial to Sir Alfred Jones, is also being moved. Both works will be restored and given a spring-clean by experts at the NML’s Conservation Centre in Victoria Street while the £7.6m improvements to the Pier Head take place.
The King, Queen Victoria’s eldest son, took to the throne in 1901.
It was after his death in 1910 that a group of Liverpool’s leading citizens decided to raise the money for a lasting tribute.
The commission went to sculptor Sir William Goscombe John, brother of Augustus John, and was struck at a foundry in Thames Ditton. The granite plinth was made by John Stubbs of Crown Street, Liverpool.
It was unveiled by Edward, Prince of Wales on July 5, 1921 and shows the King wearing military uniform.
The improvement scheme has been co-ordinated with the new Museum of Liverpool and Neptune Developments’ Mann Island project, and will create sheltered areas at the south end of the site, keeping the north end as an events area, all paved in high quality granite.
There will be plenty of seating installed, a central lawn, and feature lighting.
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