The bronze statue commemorating Oliver Cromwell (1599 – 1658) standing outside Westminster Hall was presented to Parliament in 1895 by then Prime Minister, Lord Rosebery. The statue, sculpted by Hamo Thornycroft, shows Oliver Cromwell holding a sword and a Bible. Cromwell, one of the most controversial figures in British history, was a Puritan who played a leading role in bringing Charles I to trial and execution in 1649. When Charles II was exiled, Cromwell served as Lord Protector of the newly developed Commonwealth of England from 1653 until his death in 1658. Cromwell was buried in a private vault in Westminster Abbey, however, he did not lie in the Abbey for long. When Charles II was restored to the throne, he had Cromwell exhumed from the Abbey, and hung up on the gallows at Tyburn where on the anniversary of the execution of Charles I, he was executed posthumously and beheaded. His body was buried under the Tyburn gallows and his head was stuck on a spike outside Westminster Hall where it supposedly remained on display for the next 25 years until it blew down in a storm. Oliver Cromwell’s head is believed to be buried at Sidney Sussex College in Cambridge where he once studied.
- Oliver Cromwell Statue
- Palace of Westminster, London SW1
- www.parliament.uk
- Underground: Westminster