IS40.1 



THE CIVIL ENGINEER AND ARCHITECT'S JOURNAL 



105 



MONUMENT TO CHATTERTON. 



Admiration of Chatterton, and compassion for his untimely fate have 

 too often evaporated in mere declamation, and it wanted the spirit of 

 a few individuals, and the talent of a disinterested artist to give the 

 poet that tribute, to which every one acknowledged his title " Tlie 

 wonderful boy who died in his pride," the bard who gave Bristol that 

 title in the literary world, which has since been maintained by Southey, 

 had a right to expect from his fellow citizens a memorial which they 

 had money to pay for and native talent to execute — The Bristolians 

 have shown good feeling in preserving in the museum of the In- 

 stitute the Eve at the Fountain, and they would have shown still more, 

 had they employed the pencil of Lawrence or the chisel of Baily upon 

 a subject so worthy of their talents, as the commemoration of a fel- 

 low townsman. 



To enter into a biography of Chatterton would be misplaced here, 

 while the leading incidents need but to be alluded to to recall the re- 

 membrance of his life, his childhood,* his relationship to Redcliffe 



*' Tliumas Chatterton born 1758, died 1770. 



his education in the neighbouring charity school, and his years of 

 fretful toil as an attorney's clerk, are circumstances of local interest 

 connected with the present m )nument No site could be better chosen 

 than one near the place of hii birth and of his literarv education, no garb 

 could be more dignified than that which recalled the difficult position from 

 which he had to emerge to distinction. It was within the walls of St. 

 Mary's that he breathed the inspiration of his song it was there that 

 he planned the tale of fiction which struck the literary world with won- 

 der, it was there that he placed the stage on which the imaginarv 

 Rowley was to herald the fame of Chatterton. The discovery of the 

 fiction is not to be regretted, it is only painful as it led to the self des- 

 truction of one so promising and so talented, and the loss of a life which 

 beamed with hope of better works. His fellow citizens have been 

 loud in sounding his fame, but half their duty was undone while they 

 left the tenant of the workhouse ground in Shoe Lane, without a 

 stone to tell his name. 



The people of Bristol have at last been alive to the c'aims upon 

 them, but it is owing neither to their public spirit nor their trenerositv 

 that tlie memorial is worthy of its subject. The paltry sum of one 

 hundred pounds is what this rich city awards to cominemorate its 

 own glory, and that of its favorite son, and it is fortunate that the per- 

 formance was not as mean as its reward. The monument, of Bath stone, is 

 a Gothic cross, 31 feet high, bearing the statue of Chatterton, attired in 

 the garb of the charity school in which he was brought up. The plan is 

 pentagonal throughout, and harmonises with the rich architect{ire of 

 the majestic church. The niches and tablet recesses are formed by al- 

 ternate parallel surfaces with the face and side of the buttresses, as 

 under : — 



Plan of compartment in the middle stage of the Monument. 

 Scale J an inch to a foot. 



The upper stage which is not shown minutely in our engraving is 

 composed vf five angular shafts detached from the central pier whic 

 supports the statue ; the light and shade are therefore much more 

 varied. 



Plan of compaitment in the upper stage of the Monumeat. 

 Scale i an inch to a foot. 



There are five inscriptions on the tablets in the lower stagrs, and 

 the open book and the scroll in the hands of the statue are also in- 

 scribed, the two latter in Old English character. The work is well 

 executed, the carvings in particular, which are designed after some of 

 the fine models in Bristol Cathedral. 



The monument was sure to excite interest from its locality, and this 

 interest has been maintained by the skill with which the work is made 

 to harmonize with the noble back-ground formed by the North Porch 

 of the church, ricli in all the luxuriant ornament of the fourteenth cen- 

 tury. It is to Mr. S. C.Fripp, jun. an Architect of Bristol, that the public 

 are indebted for this admirable work, and he has shown both judgment 

 and true genius in preserving that harmony of tone, which was diteated 

 by a due regard to the proper treatment of the subject. Had Mr. 

 Fripp done otherwise he would have stepped beyond his proper sphere, 

 and failed in |n'oducing a work which does him so much honor. He 

 has by this monument added fiesh interest to a time honored site, 

 given his native city a new ornament, and a noble bard his long neg- 

 lected tribute. 



