Statutory Address: 711, South Church Side, Hull HU1 1RR
Coordinates: 53°44’30″N 0°20’07″W
Description of Location –
The statue is located in the centre of Trinity Square in front of Hull Minster and the Hands on History Museum (originally Hull Grammar School, founded 1486, with Andrew Marvell and William Wilberforce both being alumni).
Details –
Erected: 1867, originally in the Town Hall. Moved in 1902 to the corner of George Street and Savile Street, then to the corner of Bond Street and George Street in 1922, then to William Gee School in 1963, before being moved to its present location in 1999. The statue’s damaged left hand was also remodelled in 1999.
Listed: Grade II listed
Monument Type: Historical Interest
Associated Site(s): The William de-la-Pole and William Wilberforce (Wilberforce House) statues were all by the same artist, William Day Keyworth junior (1843-1902).
Inscription(s): “The poet Andrew Marvell. An incorruptible patriot, a wise statesman, and a zealous and energetic representative of this his native town in parliament from 1658 to 1678 – Born 1620, died 1678”
“Had we but world
enough and time,
This coyness, lady were
no crime.
We should sit down and
think which way
To walk and pass our
long love’s day;
From To His Coy Mistress by Andrew Marvell”
“Presented by Mr Councillor John Winship to the Corporation of Hull 26th Day of October 1867.”
Description: A white marble statue of the East Yorkshire born poet and politician Andrew Marvell (1621-1678) upon a pink granite plinth. He is wearing seventeenth-century costume. The front of the plinth is inscribed. William D Keyworth Jnr (1843-1902) designed the statue and was a well-respected sculptor who was born in Hull.
Additional Resources –
“Andrew Marvell (1621-1678),” Art UK, accessed 1 January 2024, https://artuk.org/discover/artworks/andrew-marvell-16211678-322979/view_as/grid/search/keyword:andrew-marvell–outdoor_artwork:on/page/1.
“Statue of Andrew Marvell on North Side of South Church Side,” Historic England, 21 January 1994, https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1197623.
David Gerrard, A Century of Hull: Events, People and Places over the 20th Century (Stroud: The History Press, 2011), 114.
Gerardine Mulcahy-Parker. “Keyworth, William Day, junior.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 6 October 2016. https://www-oxforddnb-com.libproxy.ncl.ac.uk/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-110203?rskey=OMQMlP&result=2.
W. H. Kelliher. “Marvell, Andrew.” Oxford Dictionary of National Biography, 23 September 2004. https://www.oxforddnb.com/display/10.1093/ref:odnb/9780198614128.001.0001/odnb-9780198614128-e-18242.