Why is there a statue of King George III at Lincoln Castle?

The popular statue of King George III was once part of a full height statue placed on top of Dunston Pillar in 1810 in celebration of the King’s Golden Jubilee.

Robert Hobart, the 4th Earl of Buckinghamshire commissioned the statue and had it placed on Dunston Pillar to mark George III’s fifty year reign which was celebrated by the nation on 25th October 1809. Although George III’s Jubilee was the third royal Golden Jubilee in British history, after Henry III (1266) and Edward III (1377), it is the first one to have records of the public celebrations. The pealing of bells, special church services, bands playing, firework displays, feasting and the unveiling of statues all had their part to play up and down the country.  

Lincoln’s festivities began with the pealing of bells and at 9 o’clock the mayor and corporation breakfasted at the Rein Deer Inn, followed by a service at St Peter’s Church. A subscription was made in all the parishes so that the poor could also enjoy the occasion. The festivities in other towns in Lincolnshire included church services, teas and dinners. The serving of plum bread featured as a special treat.

The statue was removed from Dunston Pillar in 1941 as it was judged by the Royal Air Force to be hazardous to aeroplanes then based at airfields on Lincoln Heath. Parts of the statue, which was made of the artificial stone called “Coade”, were broken in this process. In 1956 the statue was given to the Lincolnshire Local History Society, and the fragments were delivered to Lincoln Castle and stacked in the masons’ yard. Much dialogue followed and it took until the early 1970s when approval was finally given for its restoration and the bust was put on display in the grounds of the Castle. Specialist restoration was undertaken by Coade Ltd in 2010, but the rest of the statue is in storage at Lincoln Castle until such time as further restoration can be undertaken.

About the statue:

The 15 foot tall statue was manufactured from a special formulation of fired clay, marketed as “artificial stone” and known as Coade. Eleanor Coade invented the material and produced her mouldings and statuary in her Lambeth factory from 1769. The material, which Eleanor Coade called Lithodopia2, was extremely weather-resistant and versatile. The objects were first moulded in ordinary clay from which plaster moulds were made. The Coade clay would then be rolled into sheets and press moulded by hand into the plaster. After drying, the several sections would be assembled and finally fired in large kilns.

Eleanor Coade had a royal appointment to George III for whom she made the Gothic screen at St George’s Chapel, Windsor.