Location
On the wall of the Square Tower on Broad Street facing up High Street.
 

Memorial
King Charles I Bust
Information

The original of this contemporary portrait bust of Charles I, in lead gilt, by Hubrecht Ie Sueur, was set in this specially constructed setting in 1635, it is the oldest public monument in the City and a major work of art. The original bust was probably destroyed in the Civil War, when an image of the King would not have been popular even in this garrison town. It was replaced around 1660 by what is believed to have been an exact replica. This replacement bust was found to be in a poor condition when inspected in 1981 and was removed for conservation and placed in the City Museum. It has been replaced at the Square Tower with a fibreglass copy.
 
Inscriptions on the two stone tablets above and below the bust read - "King Charles the First" and "After his travels through all France into Spain, and having passed very many dangers both by sea and land, he arrived here the 5th day of October 1623".
[There is some confusion over this date as King James I was on the throne in 1623]
 
Beneath the bust is the royal arms of Charles in stone on a bracket mounting.
 
The inscription originally ended "there was the greatest applause of joy for his safety throughout the Kingdom that was ever known or heard of". The inscription appears to have been mutilated in the early years of the 19th century probably when the fabric of the Tower was repaired in 1827.

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