A Victorian tribute to a Saxon king
The marble figure of King Alfred in the middle of Wantage Market Place was unveiled on 14 July 1877 by the Prince and Princess of Wales, later King Edward VII and Queen Alexandra. It was a gift to the town from Colonel Robert Loyd-Lindsay VC, the owner of the Lockinge estate, who was made Lord Wantage in 1885. The sculptor worked under the name Count Gleichen; he was Prince Victor of Hohenlohe-Langenburg, a nephew of Queen Victoria and a naval officer turned professional sculptor.
The statue celebrates the town’s claim to be Alfred’s birthplace. Asser, the Welsh monk who wrote a life of the king in 893, says that Alfred was born at the royal estate of Wantage in 849, and Alfred’s own will left Wantage to his wife, Ealhswith. Victorian England took a close interest in Alfred as a founder of the nation, and the Wantage statue belongs to the same wave of feeling that produced the statue at Winchester in 1901.
Clearing the square
The centre of the Market Place was not always open. According to the Victoria County History, a town hall stood in the middle of the square until 1835. Its brick replacement lasted only about forty years and was taken down in 1876 to make room for the statue, which is why the present Town Hall stands on the north side of the square rather than in the middle.
The statue today
Alfred stands on a tall stone pedestal facing along the Market Place, with a battle-axe in one hand and a scroll in the other. The figure has been damaged by vandals in recent decades, losing its axe and part of its right arm, and has been repaired each time. It is listed at Grade II.
The statue is in the open square and can be seen at any time. The twice-weekly charter market is held around it on Wednesdays and Saturdays, and the town’s annual Alfred celebrations use the square as their focus.
Nearby
The parish church of SS Peter and Paul and the Vale and Downland Museum are a two-minute walk away down Church Street. The museum’s King Alfred gallery tells the story of Alfred’s life and holds a facsimile of Asser’s text. On the south side of the square are the Bear Hotel and the former Corn Exchange, which Loyd-Lindsay turned into a gallery of Victoria Cross paintings in about 1890.