A Royal Visit
November 1866
November 30th, 1866 (after 1pm when the Royal Standard train arrived) was the first and only visit by Queen Victoria, a significant one too as it was her first public appearance since Prince Albert’s death. She was visiting because sculptor Thomas Thorneycroft created a statue of the Prince, which was completed on October 1st, 1866 for £1150, and was invited to unveil it. The statue was erected in High Green (which later became Queen Square due to her visit), and the invitation was sent 8 days before her arrival, leaving time to decorate the town with flags, banners, Chinese lanterns, wreaths and a single electric light outside a shop. The Royal Route consisted of a departure from the station to Snowhill, Chapel Ash and Darlington Street to High Green. Outside the station from which she arrived, Low Level Station, a coal and iron bar archway was created (perhaps to relate to the industrial works of the area). Queen Victoria’s speech was read and she knighted the Mayor, John Morris, which was incredibly unexpected during the time. She then unveiled the statue, thanked the sculptor and went back to the station for her rather large lunch consisting of: veal, pheasants, roast partridges, rabbits, roast chickens, hams, oysters, turkeys and boars’ heads. The Queen’s train, the Lord of the Isles, departed at 3:30pm.