Statue of Oliver Cromwell unveiled at the Palace of Westminster

Background. Following the fire that destroyed parts of the Palace of Westminster in the 19th century, the question of whether Oliver Cromwell should have a statue in the reconstruction was debated in The Times and satirised by Punch magazine. The issue was raised in the House of Commons in 1856, with John George Phillimore arguing that objecting to a Cromwell statue indicated bigotry and party spirit.

Commissioning and Location. The statue was designed by Hamo Thornycroft and erected in 1899. In 1899, Aretas Akers-Douglas confirmed the statue's proposed location as the sunken garden next to Westminster Hall. The statue stands outside the House of Commons in Westminster, London, directly opposite a bust of Charles I in the wall of St Margaret's Church.

Unveiling Ceremony. The statue, cast in bronze by Singer of Frome, was unveiled on 31 October 1899. The ceremony included a speech on Cromwell by former Prime Minister Lord Rosebery. Rosebery was later revealed as the anonymous donor who paid for the statue. The main statue is marked 'Hamo Thornycroft 1897', while the lion on the base is marked '1899'.