The Copper Horse
Published in Windlesora 18 (2000)
© WLHG
During the television broadcast of the wedding of HRH Prince Edward to Miss Sophie Rhys-Jones at St George’s Chapel, Windsor Castle, on 19th June 1999, the commentator Michael Buerk, repeated one of the myths of Windsor’s history. During a period of inaction, when some time had to be filled, he referred to the statue of the copper horse on Snow Hill which had been seen by all the viewers as the bride’s car proceeded down the long walk. He told the story that the sculptor of the copper horse committed suicide because he discovered, after the statue had been erected, that he failed to put any stirrups on the rider’s feet.
IT’S NOT TRUE
The real story of the copper horse is as follows:
The statue was commissioned by King George IV from Sir Richard Westmacott (1775-1856) who was famous for his works depicting world leaders in classical dress and copying the poses from classical sculptures. In 1824 The King approached Westmacott to make a statue of his father George III as a Roman Emperor. The Roman Empire was at its height before the birth of Christ. The first known stirrup was in China in AD 523. They did not reach the west until the end of the seventh century, when the Roman Empire was in decline. No great Roman Emperor would have worn stirrups.
The sculpture was finished in 1831 and transported to the site on a truck which overturned and a leg broke off the statue. It had to be mended on the site and it was reported in the newspapers at the time that twelve men were able to sit inside and eat their lunch as it rained on the day. The figure of the King was finally placed on the horse on 24th October 1831.
In 1832 Charles Knight wrote in the monthly supplement of The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge:
“The Long Walk, which many of our readers may have seen and more heard of, is generally considered the finest thing of its kind in Europe. A perfectly straight road runs from the principal entrance of the Castle to the top of a commanding hill in the Great Park, called Snow Hill – a distance of more than three miles. On each side of the road, which is slightly elevated, is a double row of stately elms, now at their maturity, – some indeed beginning to show signs of decay. Nothing can be finer than the general effect of this immense vista. The stranger who is tempted to pursue the road to its termination on the hill is amply repaid by a most splendid prospect, of great extent, and comprehending objects of powerful interest. Windsor Castle appears almost at his feet; to his left is a magnificent expanse of forest scenery; to his right is the Thames, seen beyond the little plain of Runnemede (sic), where Magna Charta (sic) was extorted from King John by his barons. The hills in the distance are those of Harrow and Hampstead.”
“During the past summer a colossal equestrian statue of George III has been erected on the highest point of this hill. The figure terminates the avenue, at a distance of about three miles and a half from the Castle, and, of course, forms a prominent object at every step of the way. It is raised, as will be perceived from the wood-cut, upon a mass of stones intended to represent a rock. The total elevation of the statue and its pedestal is more than fifty feet. The statue itself is twenty-six feet in height. The circumstance, however, of the gradual approach to it through a vista of very lofty trees, and the large forms of the trees immediately surrounding it, greatly diminish the effect of its gigantic proportions. Till the spectator approaches within a hundred yards, he does not feel that the figures are of colossal dimensions; and yet we were told by a person who saw the statue before it was placed on its pedestal, that he could not span the fore-finger. The likeness of the face to George III is very admirable; but those who recollect that monarch in his plain blue coat, or his military jack-boots, will have difficulty to recognise him in his Roman costume. The very eminent sculptor, Mr. Westmacott, has in this particular to allege the example of the statue of Peter the Great, and of many other celebrated works of modern art; but it has, on the other hand, been successfully shown that the ungracefulness of European dress may be, in a great degree, overcome by skilful arrangements, and that the truth of representation in this particular is not incompatible with high taste. At any rate it is to be lamented that any statue of brass, which, from its almost imperishable material, may be the ornament of some capital two or three thousand years hence should convey an incorrect notion of the dress that an Englishman wore in the nineteenth century.”
The avenue of elm trees was planted by Charles I in 1685. They were felled in 1945 because of an outbreak of Dutch Elm disease and replaced by other trees.
Sir Richard Westmacott R.A. died on Ist September 1856 at the age of 81, 25 years after the statue was erected – these facts alone should have led a researcher to question the story.
Mr Buerk has apologised to me for the mistake, which he attributes to two researchers. However, the damage is done. We are not going to sell 15 million copies of Windlesora!
The illustration of King George III on the copper horse is the woodcut referred to in the passage by Charles Knight.
Pamela Marson
References
KNIGHT, Charles The Penny Magazine of the Society for the Diffusion of Useful Knowledge 1832
Windsor Local History Group 