Grey's Monument is a Grade I listed monument in the centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, England. It was built in 1838 in recognition of Charles Grey, 2nd Earl Grey, who was a Whig Prime Minister of the United Kingdom from 1830 to 1834.

Prime Minister Grey is remembered for the Great Reform Act of 1832, which expanded the electorate in the United Kingdom. The legislation granted the right to vote to a broader segment of the male population by standardizing property qualifications, extending the franchise to small landowners, tenant farmers, shopkeepers. all householders who paid a yearly rental of £10 or more. Prime Minister Grey is also remembered for enacting the Slavery Abolition Act of 1833, which abolished slavery in the British Empire. The legislation was enacted by ordering the British government to purchase the freedom of all slaves in the British Empire, in the way of compensated emancipation, and by outlawing the further practice of slavery in the British Empire.

The monument is located at the junction of Grey, Grainger and Blackett Streets and has a total height of 133 ft (41 m). It was funded via public subscription and consists of a statue of Earl Grey on a pedestal standing on top of a Roman Doric column. The column was designed by local architect, Benjamin Green, and the statue was created by the sculptor, Edward Hodges Baily.

In 1981, the nearby station on the Tyne and Wear Metro was named after the monument. The pedestrianised area around the base is a popular meeting place and is used as a speakers' corner.

Grey's Monument was erected in recognition of the tenure of Charles Grey as Prime Minister. Earl Grey represented Northumberland in Parliament from the age of 22.^[1] He was made First Lord of the Admiralty in 1806, and later Leader of the House of Commons. In 1830 he was invited to form a government and became Prime Minister.^[1] It was during his time as Prime Minister that he passed the Reform Act 1832,^[2][3] which brought about constituency reform and extended the right to vote.^[4] Grey's Monument was constructed when Grey was still alive and had retired from politics.^[5]

The site of the monument in central Newcastle was chosen as part of a local improvement plan proposed by Richard Grainger. In his plan, Grainger proposed to erect a statue not of Grey, but of an idealised figure. However, in 1834, Earl Grey was proposed as the subject of the statue.^[1] A public meeting took place on 6 October, chaired by William Ord, "to take into consideration the propriety of entering into a subscription, for erecting in a public situation in his native county, a statue, or other memorial, to the memory of the Noble Earl".^[6] There was unanimous support for the monument and £500 was raised on the day.^[7] One of the subscribers to the final monument was Whig politician and Irish political leader Daniel O'Connell.^[8]

Benjamin Green, John Green's son, designed the monument's column, which was to cost £1,600.^[1][7] The architects initially intended for the monument to be taller, but the height was limited by the amount of money raised via subscriptions.^[9][2] Edward Hodges Baily was commissioned to design the statue of the Earl which cost £700.^[7]

Joseph Welch, who had previously built the Ouseburn Viaduct and Bellingham Bridge, was in charge of building the monument.^[7] The foundation stone was laid on 6 September 1837 by both John and Benjamin Green.^[10] A time capsule was buried at the time of the monument's construction. It contained a hermetically sealed glass bottle which contained a drawing of the structure, a collection of coins, local medals and tradesmen's tokens donated by John Ralph Fenwick, and a list of the monument's subscribers^[11][12]

Measured from the bottom of the column to the top of the statue, Grey's Monument is 133 ft (41 m) tall. The fluted column^[13] is Roman Doric in style^[1][11] and is 9 ft 11 in (3.02 m) in diameter.^[14] The column was originally built from stone from the Pennines, later replaced with sandstone ashlar.^[1][15] A helical staircase with 164 steps^[11] leads to a viewing platform at the top of the monument, which is occasionally opened to the public.^[16] Four lamps were placed at the base of the monument in 1893, ^[17] increasing to 12 in the 1920s. ^[18] The railings and lamps have since been removed.^[1] It also found that the column can sway up to 30 cm (12 in) in the wind.^[1]

The statue of Earl Grey by E. H. Baily sits on top of the pedestal.^[1] The statue depicts a 13 ft (4.0 m)^[19] twice-life-size figure standing upright, clothed in robes of the Order of the Garter.^[1][20] It is made out of Portland stone^[19] and was originally coated in wax to protect it against the weather.^[20] In Public Sculpture of North-East England, the expression of Earl Grey is described as "pensive".^[1] Baily also made 30 miniatures of the statue out of plaster, possibly intended as souvenirs.^[1]

The main inscription on the south side of the pedestal was added in 1854 and was most likely written by Sydney Smith.^[1][21] It was installed by the Red Barns Marble Works of Gibson Street, Newcastle.^[22]

On the opposite face is a later inscription from 1932, installed at the request of Sir Charles Trevelyan, 100 years after the passing of the Great Reform Act. The words of the inscription were written by Edward Grey.^[1]

Grey's Monument became a Grade I listed building on 14 June 1954.^[15] The monument is the namesake of the Monument Metro station, on the Tyne and Wear Metro, opened in 1981 and located at the monument. The pedestrianised area around the monument is a popular meeting place and is regarded as a speakers' corner.^[1][23]

• Grade I listed buildings in Tyne and Wear