Walker, Christ Church, Robert Chambers Memorial

HER Number:
9907

District:
Newcastle

Site Name:
Walker, Christ Church, Robert Chambers Memorial

Place:
Walker

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Religious Ritual and Funerary

Site Type: Broad:
Funerary Site

Site Type: Specific:
Tomb

General Period:
Early Modern

Specific Period:
C19

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
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

Easting:
2908

Northing:
6437

Grid Reference:
NZ29086437

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Newcastle City Council, 2006, Local List of Buildings, Structures, Parks, Gardens and Open Spaces of Special Local Architectural or Historic Interest Supplementary Planning Document; Paul Usherwood, Jeremy Beach and Catherine Morris, 2000, Public Sculpture of North East England, p 138; Alan Morgan, 2004, Beyond the Grave - Exploring Newcastle's Burial Grounds, pages 138-139; Lynn Pearson, 2010, Played in Tyne and Wear - Charting the heritage of people at play, p 158