Two historic statues at Salford University depicting Queen Victoria and Prince Albert urgently need to be repaired – but funding has fallen through.
Acid rain and general weathering has caused parts of the royal features to become obscured.
Salford City Council estimate they need around £20,000 to preserve the statues for future generations.
Situated on a lawn in front of the Salford Museum and Art Gallery on the Crescent they commemorate Queen Victoria and Prince Albert’s royal visit to Salford in 1851.
The visit gained national recognition when 80,000 children from Salford’s Sunday schools sang to the visiting royals, and raised a large amount of the 1,000 guineas required to pay for the statues.
At the time the Manchester Guardian declared the event belonged ‘rather to national than local history’.
The Queen is represented in typical regal fashion, wearing a coronet and robes, whilst leaning on the Imperial crown which sits on a cushion atop a pillar.
In 1861, the Prince prematurely passed away and it was decided a statue was to be erected in his honour, which was inaugurated in 1864 and placed facing the statue of his wife.
Both statues are by famed sculptor Matthew Noble, who also famously created the Manchester Town Hall monument of Oliver Cromwell, the Duke of Wellington monument in Piccadilly Gardens as well a statues of Sir Robert Peel that was once housed in Peel Park.
Watch: Queen Victoria 1851 Worsley visit debunked
A planning application was put in by Salford Museum and Art Gallery to complete the much needed work but it has now been withdrawn pending a further funding application.
A spokesman for Salford City Council said: “These two grade-II listed monuments are in need of urgent repair work – but we have no immediate funds to do this.
“We were aiming to put the necessary permissions in place for work to go ahead so we were ready to bid for funding.
“Our initial submission was for both statues together but the National Planning Casework Unit advises that we need to submit an application for each statue separately hence the need to withdraw the original application.
“Having listed building consent and planning permission in place would be a condition of any bid.
“The funding source we had hoped to use is also no longer available.
“We will resubmit an application for the two statues when alternative funding has been identified.
“The work requires listed building consent and permission from the Secretary of State and if granted those permissions will be valid for three years.”
