Christ Church, Robert Chambers Memorial

The memorial to Robert Chambers was made by George Burn in 1869. It is a sandstone tomb with a reclining figure (now headless) beneath an ornately decorated canopy. Robert Chambers (1831-1868) was a Tyneside hero. In the mid-nineteenth century rowing was a popular spectator sport. Audiences for races on the Tyne could number between 50,000 to 100,000. In 1857 Newcastle-born Chambers won the Championship of England on the Thames course, and retained this title for a further four years. The last time he won the title was on the Tyne Championship course. He won the world sculling championship in 1863 but died of TB in 1868. The inscription on his tomb reads ‘THIS MONUMENT WAS ERECTED BY THE FRIENDS AND ADMIRERS OF THE LATE ROBERT CHAMBERS WHO FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS UPHELD THE HONOUR OF TYNESIDE AS ACQUATIC CHAMPION OF ENGLAND. HE DIED AT ST. ANTHONY’S JUNE 4TH 1868 AGED 37 YEARS’ LOCAL LIST