Equestrian statue of Sir Redvers Buller

An equestrian statue of General Sir Redvers Buller stands at the junction of Hele Road and New North Road, close to Exeter College, Exeter, between St David's Church, Exeter and Bury Meadow Park. It was unveiled in 1905, and the bronze statue is mounted on a plinth of Cornish granite. It became a Grade II listed building in 1953.

Background

Buller was the commander of the British Army forces sent to South Africa in the opening phases of the Second Boer War, from October 1899 to January 1900. He had served in several colonial campaigns and as a lieutenant colonel won the Victoria Cross in retreat after the Battle of Hlobane in the Anglo-Zulu War. After returning to England, and defending his military record in a public speech, which included the disclosure of several confidential official telegrams, he was controversially dismissed summarily as GOC Aldershot.

Description

The bronze statue was paid for by public subscription which raised over £2,000 from 50,000 people. It was made by Adrian Jones in 1902 and cast at the foundry of A.B. Burton in Thames Ditton. It depicts Buller in his uniform as a general, in a greatcoat and plumed bicorn, wearing his Victoria Cross, and riding his horse "Biffen". The bronze statue weighs 4.5 tons. The rectangular granite plinth, which weighs 35 tons, was a gift of John St Aubyn, 1st Baron St Levan, and was carved by Pethick Brothers of Plymouth. The statue is facing away from Buller's birthplace and family estate at Downes, Crediton.

One face of the plinth bears a bronze badge of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, a crowned Maltese cross, and the Latin motto of the corps: "Celer et Audax" ("Swift and Bold"). The three other faces each bear inscriptions – one giving his name and honours, "Redvers Buller / VC GCB GCMG / of Downes"; another listing his military services, "1859-1900 / India China / Canada Ashanti / Egypt Soudan [sic] / South Africa / He Saved Natal", with the last referring to his service in the Boer War and the relief of Ladysmith, notwithstanding reverses at the battles of Colenso and Spion Kop; and the last recording that the statue was "Erected / by his countrymen / at home and beyond the seas / 1905".

Redvers Buller statue, front side
Redver_Buller_statue_,_back_side_of_the_statue

Reception

It was unveiled on 6 September 1905 by the Lord Lieutenant of Devon, Lord Ebrington, a late substitute for Garnet Wolseley, 1st Viscount Wolseley who was indisposed through influenza. Buller attended the unveiling, with his wife Lady Audrey and daughter Georgina, with a guard of honour from the 1st Rifle Volunteers. The ceremony drew a crowd of several thousand. A choir sang "Land of Hope and Glory", and the band of the 4th Battalion, King's Royal Rifles, played "God Save the Queen". After the unveiling, the band also performed to crowds in Northernhay Park, Belmont Pleasure Grounds and St Thomas Belmont Pleasure Grounds; Buller and his family attended a reception at the Victoria Hall in Queen Street (which was demolished after being damaged by fire in 1919); and a celebratory tea was served to 500 military veterans in Bury Meadow Park.

Buller died at his home at Downes, Crediton in 1908, and is buried at Crediton Parish Church.

The statue became a Grade II listed building in 1953. In January 2021, Exeter City Council voted to seek permission to move the statue from its location near Exeter College, "because of the man it portrays [and] because of the names carved on the plinth of colonial campaigns which sought to advance British imperialist interests in other countries", which means "the current location is inappropriate because it is outside an educational establishment, which includes young people from diverse backgrounds".