| Statue of Robert Stephenson | |
|---|---|
 | |
 | |
| Artist | Carlo Marochetti |
| Medium | Bronze |
| Subject | Robert Stephenson |
| Location | Euston station, London |
Listed Building – Grade II | |
| Official name | Statue of Robert Stephenson in Euston Station Forecourt |
| Designated | 14 May 1974 |
| Reference no. | 1342041 |
Abronze statue ofRobert Stephenson byCarlo Marochetti usually stands on a red granite plinth in the forecourt ofEuston railway station in London, England. Erected in 1871, it is one of few surviving elements of the original station after it was redeveloped in the 1960s, and it became a Grade IIlisted building in 1974. It was temporarily removed in 2020 to allow the station to be remodelled to accommodate the newHigh Speed 2 (HS2) railway line, and was installed atLocomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham, in 2025.
The 2.7 m (8 ft 10 in) high bronze statue portrays Stephenson standing casually, bareheaded, with his right leg slightly forward, in contemporaryVictorian dress offrock coat and trousers. He has a partially unrolled document in his right hand, and the left hand rests on his hip. The red Aberdeen granite plinth bears the inscriptionROBERT STEPHENSON/BORN/OCTOBER 16TH1803/DIED OCTOBER 12TH1859.[1]
A memorial committee of theInstitute of Civil Engineers commissioned the statue after Stephenson's death on 12 October 1859. It was completed before Marochetti's death in 1867, but remained in storage while protracted discussions continued about an appropriate site to erect it and other statues.[2]
The Institute of Civil Engineers had also commissioned Marochetti to make a similar statue of Stephenson's rival engineerIsambard Kingdom Brunel, after Brunel's death a few weeks before Stephenson on 14 September 1859,[3] and then a third statue for the railway engineerJoseph Locke who died a year later, on 18 September 1860. The intention was to erect the three statues together in a prominent position inParliament Square, then known as the churchyard ofSt Margaret's, Westminster, near thestatue of George Canning beside the offices of the Institute of Civil Engineers atOne Great George Street. After initially granting permission, theOffice of Works decided against in 1868, reserving the space for statues of politicians.[4]
Ultimately the three statues were erected separately. Marochetti'sstatue of Joseph Locke was installed inLocke Park,Barnsley, in 1866.[5] The statue and its enclosure were listed at Grade II in 1986.[6] A copy is displayed inBarentin, France, where Locke designed a railway viaduct. Thestatue of Brunel was erected in 1874 on theVictoria Embankment, at the west end ofTemple Place, on aPortland stone pedestal with novel flanking screen walls and benches by the architectRichard Norman Shaw. It became a grade IIlisted building in 1958.[7]
.jpg)
The Institute of Civil Engineers presented the statue of Stephenson to theLondon and North Western Railway, which from 1846 brought together theLondon and Birmingham Railway, theGrand Junction Railway and theLiverpool and Manchester Railway, all of which had engaged Stephenson or his fatherGeorge Stephenson. Euston was the railway's London terminus, and an 1852 marble statue of George Stephenson byEdward Hodges Baily was already displayed within the main hall of the station (it is now at theNational Railway Museum, York). Similar to Marochetti's statue of Robert Stephenson, Baily's statue of his father also shows the subject standing in contemporary dress, holding a partially unrolled document the right hand.
The statue of Robert Stephenson was erected on a red granite pedestal outsideEuston railway station in 1871, originally sited between the entrance lodges to the station precincts. It was moved to the east side of the station when it was redeveloped in the 1960s, and moved again in 2008 when further redevelopment was proposed to stand to the west side of the station forecourt. The statue is one of few surviving elements of the original station after it was redeveloped in the 1960s, and it was listed at Grade II in 1974.[8][9]
The statue was removed in 2020 to allow further redevelopment works, remodelling the station for the new HS2 railway line to Birmingham.[10] In April 2025 the statue was put on display atLocomotion Museum in Shildon, County Durham, where it is expected to remain for ten years before returning to Euston.[11]
.jpg)
.jpg)
51°31′40″N0°08′00″W / 51.5277°N 0.1333°W /51.5277; -0.1333
