Southend's Queen Victoria statue could be on the move

The statue of the great monarch, empress of the British Empire and the longest serving monarch in British history, sits on the clifftops at Southend, gazing south across the sea.

But she may not be there for much longer. A plan, fast gaining traction, would see the statue moved north, to take up a new enthronement in the centre of Victoria Circus.

The lady who wants to move the queen is Francie Odysseus. A lifelong Southender, Mrs Odysseus believes the statue is wasted in its present location.

“I was driving past the new Victoria Gateway site at the entrance to the town, and I looked at this big, empty space in the middle,” she says. “It badly needs a focal point, something to give it a bit of identity. What better than that wonderful old statue?

“Not all that many people get to see the statue on its present site. Put it on the new site, near the Victoria shopping centre. It would provide a real link with the past.”

Mrs Odysseus’s project is being championed by Southend councillor Mark Flewitt and is due to be raised in full session of the council.

“The year 2012, is the Diamond Jubilee of our present queen,” says Mrs Odysseus. “Moving the statue, which was originally installed to mark Victoria's jubilee, would be an ideal way to celebrate.”

Wherever her location in town, Queen Victoria is the natural icon for Southend.

Southend is, after all, a Victorian town. The place was just a collection of fishermen’s cottages when Princess Victoria was born. She became queen in 1837, and it was during her reign – 1837 to 1901 – it developed into the town we know today.

Its evolution reached a peak in 1892, when the queen signed Southend’s Document of Incorporation, giving the new town a mayor and council for the first time.

Southend returned the compliment by naming a stream of places in Victoria’s honour. The new approach to the town, constructed in the 1890s, became Victoria Avenue. The crossroads where Victoria Avenue met the old London-Southchurch road became Victoria Circus.

The new railway station was dubbed Southend Victoria. The grandest hotel in town, sited on Victoria Circus became the … well it certainly wasn’t called Mavis.

Southend’s Queen Vic fervour achieved a last flourish in 1897, when along with just about every other community across the country, it celebrated the queen’s Diamond Jubilee. The words, “60 Glorious Years” were spelt out in flowers in a specially made archway at the entrance to the High Street. A carnival procession was held in the queen’s honour.

The most lasting memorial, however, was the statue, presented to the town by the mayor of Southend, Alderman Bernard Tolhurst.

The queen was given the top spot in town, at the crest of Pier Hill, her gaze directed along Southend’s famous pride and joy, the longest pier in the world. To her right stood the Royal Terrace, where Southend’s development as a seaside resort had begun.

Behind her stretched the High Street. To her left sprang up a new hotel. The name Victoria was already taken, so they did the next best thing and called the hotel the Palace. There she stayed for 55 years. By the early Sixties however, Southend was in a state of flux. Much of the old 19th century town was being demolished.

Victorian art and architecture had come to be despised. Southend’s attack on its legacy reached a peak in 1962, when the Victoria Hotel was demolished. Its splendid etched glass windows were smashed and its ornate woodwork thrown on a bonfire.

Another spot targeted for redevelopment was the little garden patch at the top of Pier Hill. What a perfect spot for a car park.

Only one thing stood in the way, the old statue in the middle of the garden. So it was Queen Victoria went on her travels for the first time, hoisted by crane and moved to her current position on the clifftops. It was her first, but maybe not her last, move.