Boadicea and Her Daughters

Boadicea and Her Daughters is a bronze sculpture statue gleaming at the western side of Westminster Bridge. The artist behind the statue Thomas Thornycroft with some assistance from his son William Hamo Thornycroft. It was conceived from 1856 to 1853 and erected in June 1902.

It can get very busy around Boudicca and is not always bridled with the best things around it. 

The sculpture features Boudica, Queen of the Iceni tribe of Britons, who led a rebellion in bringing down the Romans. She stands valiantly with arms raised and a spear in the right hand as she commands her horses forth. Her two daughters crouch on either side of her. The chariot that they ride on is of a Roman build as scythes are built into the wheels. No armour to speak of, Boudica dons a gown that drapes across her body while her daughters are clothed from the waist down.

The piece was commissioned in the 1850s when Queen Victoria as well as Prince Albert were impressed by an equestrian statue of Queen Victoria shown at the Great Exhibition in 1851. They became very much involved in the project. Albert’s aim was to have the statue erected at Hyde Park of the central arch of Decimus Burtun’s entrance. Thornycroft reflected Queen Victoria in the design of the statue and Albert allowed two horses to be modelled on as the ones for the statue.

A full size model came about in 1885 before the time of death of Thornycroft but there were no funds left for it to be cast in bronze. It was suggested by his son to erect it on the north side of Parliament Hill and yet again, there were no £6,000 in sight to cast the statue in bronze. Following this, a committee was set up to bring up the funds and ultimately raised the required amount in 1898 to which JW Slinger and Sons cast the statue in bronze for £2,000.

It was mounted on a plinth in June 1902. Inscriptions were added later and another inscription of William Cowper’s poem Boadicea an ode was added to another side. In 1958, the statue was listed as Grade II.