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Statue of Oliver Cromwell
Oliver Cromwell rose to prominence as a Parliamentary cavalry commander during the English Civil War (1642-1651). Following the defeat and execution of King Charles I, he became Head of State under the title “Lord Protector of the Commonwealth of England, Scotland and Ireland” (r. 1653-1658). The parliamentary government, of which he was a leading figure, and his protectorate, were defined by his Puritan values, leading to the suppression of celebrations of traditional festivals, like Christmas and Easter. It also brought short-lasting but radical changes to government, including the introduction of a written constitution, the Instrument of Government and the division of England into 10 districts, each governed by a Major-General.
The statue of Cromwell was sculpted by Hamo Thornycroft in 1899. Cromwell is portrayed holding a sword in his right hand and a bible in his left, a tribute to his military prowess and strong religious faith. It stands outside the House of Commons, in Westminster, London. Building it was controversial at the time and fiercely debated by parliament. Proposed by the governing Liberal Party, it was opposed both by the Conservative Party due to Cromwell’s role in toppling the Monarchy and by the Irish National Party for his brutal wars in Ireland.
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Original image by Jim Linwood. Uploaded by Michael McComb, published on 16 April 2025. The copyright holder has published this content under the following license: Creative Commons Attribution. This license lets others distribute, remix, tweak, and build upon your work, even commercially, as long as they credit you for the original creation. When republishing on the web a hyperlink back to the original content source URL must be included. Please note that content linked from this page may have different licensing terms.
