The official ceremony to dedicate the Tennyson Memorial on High Down near Freshwater took place on 6th August 1897.
The famous poet had died 5 years earlier in 1892, aged 83. The dedication ceremony took place on 6th August because it marked the 88th anniversary of his birth in 1809. Prayers at the commemoration were led by the Archbishop of Canterbury, Frederick Temple.
The memorial – made of Cornish granite – is 38ft high and surmounted by a runic cross. The cost of its construction was £1,000 (over £100,000 in today’s values). It sits high above what we now call Tennyson Down; High Down was renamed in honour of the eponymous poet.
The inscription on the Tennyson Memorial reads:
“In memory of Alfred, Lord Tennyson, this cross is raised, a beacon to sailors, by the people of Freshwater and other friends in England and America”.
Alfred, Lord Tennyson was the most famous poet of the Victorian era. It is believed that Tennyson’s enthusiasm for Keats’ poetry had led him to consider settling on the Island, where Keats had chosen to write
Farringford in Freshwater was Tennyson’s main residence from 1853 until his death in 1892. Alfred and his wife Emily viewed the tranquility and intimacy of their remote Island home as the perfect place to raise their 2 sons.
Tennyson wrote some of the most celebrated poems of the Victorian age, including The Lady of Shalott, The Charge of the Light Brigade, and In Memoriam.
He was 1 of Queen Victoria’s favourite poets. His poem In Memoriam was of great comfort to her following the death of her beloved husband Albert.
In Memoriam contains the following lines:
I hold it true, whate’er befall;
I feel it when I sorrow most;
‘Tis better to have loved and lost
Than never to have loved at all.
Tennyson’s poem Lady of Shalott was immortalised in the art of Victorian painters, for example, that of John William Waterhouse in 1888.
Lady of Shallott contains the following lines:
All the Knights at Camelot;
But Lancelot mused a little space
He said, “She has a lovely face;
God in his mercy lend her grace,
The Lady of Shalott.”
126 years – and yet still no massive car park for visitors at the actual site. You are expected to walk – and walk up a hill!
However, when you finally arrive at the site you find that there is no McDonalds or other fast food outlet on site – just 360 degrees of view to look at.
Sit at the base of the monument on a quiet day and realise just how lucky we are to have Tennyson Down, and why Tennyson wrote some of his best work in the area.
Then, when you get home listen to Loreena Mckennit’s version of “The Lady of Shallott” recorded live in 1998. (“Live in Paris and Toronto”, released in 1999). This uses some of the original poem and some rewritten sections that Tennyson meant to write – beautiful
Poetry aimed at the heart not the head
Has anybody else noticed it has been getting closer to the sea over the last few decades?