A new statue commemorating Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II will be unveiled in Newcastle-under-Lyme this autumn.

Planning permission was granted for Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council to erect the landmark statue in Queens Gardens in the centre of town.

Created by internationally renowned Staffordshire sculptor Andy Edwards as part of the Borough’s 850th anniversary celebrations last year, the unique design is based upon photographs of the Queen taken during a visit to Newcastle in 1973 to celebrate the borough’s then 800th anniversary.

Cast in bronze, the statue will be one-and-a-quarter times life size, but, unusually for a memorial to a Monarch, will stand at ground level rather than on a tall plinth.

Simon Tagg, Leader of Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council, said:

"This is exciting, it is unique to Newcastle and something that residents can claim as our own.

Not only does it commemorate a specific moment in Newcastle’s rich history, a day that many residents including myself still remember, but as word spreads I think people will want to come from further afield so that they can see it for themselves, touch it and take photographs standing next to it.

Delivering the new statute was a key legacy of our success 850th Anniversary celebration.”

The landmark memorial is being funded by two donors - Sir Anthony Bamford, owner of Staffordshire-based international manufacturing giant JCB, and Capital&Centric, the developers currently working on the multimillion regeneration of Newcastle town centre, are each donating half the cost.

Simon Tagg said:

"I am pleased and grateful that both Sir Anthony, whose achievements are firmly rooted in Staffordshire, and Capital&Centric, which is currently changing the face of Newcastle for the future, are able to support the community in this way.

Andy Edwards is an extremely talented man, a sculptor whose work graces many sites around the world, and I am delighted that his unique representation of Her Majesty will be standing here for all to see.”

As well as the Beatles statue in Liverpool, Andy Edwards’s work includes Sir Stanley Matthews in Stoke-on-Trent, Sir Alex Ferguson in Aberdeen and ‘All Together Now’ - an installation of opposing soldiers shaking hands over a football to symbolise one of the most famous events of the First World War.

The statue, weighing one ton, will be positioned looking across Queens Gardens and will stand close to a statue of Queen Victoria, Queen Elizabeth II’s great-great-grandmother, which was unveiled by Grand Duke Michael of Russia in November 1903.

Image credit: Staffordshire Film Archive