The monument, in Victoria Park, was unveiled in 1902, the year after she died. The sculptor was Thomas Brock. Victoria Park is part of the larger Bitts Park area of Carlisle and occupies land between the River Eden and the Castle. The formal gardens that contain the statue of Queen Victoria were laid out in the 1890s on the site of a rubbish tip (
Link Heritage and History)
The inscription at the base of the plinth reads:
VICTORIA
QUEEN OF GREAT BRITAIN AND IRELAND. EMPRESS OF INDIA.
BORN MAY 24TH 1819, DIED JANUARY 22ND 1901.
IN MEMORY OF
A GREAT QUEEN, A GOOD WOMAN, A FRIEND ALIKE TO RICH AND POOR
WHO FOR SIXTY THREE YEARS REIGNED OVER A PROSPEROUS AND WORLD WIDE
EMPIRE. THIS STATUE IS ERECTED BY THE CITIZENS OF CARLISLE IN ADMIRATION
OF HER NOBLE LIFE AND CHARACTER.