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Statue of Sir Francis Drake
Tavistock, Devon
Grid ref: SX 4757 7393 Find this on the Map Reference Finder
Main image: A390 in Tavistock - 5 metres from location - image by Andrew Abbott (CC BY-SA 2.0), via Wikimedia Commons
The sculptor was Joseph Edgar Boehm, sculptor-in-ordinary to Queen Victoria, who cast Drake standing with sword, poignard and globe, ten feet tall and roughly two tons in bronze, on a granite plinth carrying four bronze relief panels of scenes from his life. It is Grade II listed (Historic England list entry 1326211) and is, in fact, the original: a second casting was placed on Plymouth Hoe the following year, in 1884. Tavistock Town Council added an Interpretation Board in 2020-21 acknowledging Drake's part in three slaving expeditions between 1562 and 1568, alongside his achievements as a navigator and naval commander. An early plaster model for the statue, lost for over a century, was rediscovered in woodland near Exeter in 1999 and, after restoration, is now on permanent display at Buckland Abbey, the house Drake bought in 1581.
- Grid reference: SX 4756 7393 (approximate, from the listing's coordinates)
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