Dr Johnson's Monument

Cadw's description

Location

Located on the N bank of the river Ystrad in fields approximately 0.5km S of Gwaenynog; accessed via a footpath which approaches from the E.

History

Dr Johnson's monument was erected c1775 by Colonel John Myddleton of Gwaenanog to commemorate a visit made to the house by Samuel Johnson in the company of Mrs Thrale in 1774. Johnson was unimpressed by his erstwhile host's sycophancy and is said to have remarked 'it looks like an intention to bury me alive!' The monument was restored in 1975.

Exterior

Classical commemorative monument set within a railed enclosure some 2.2m square. The monument is of sandstone (with some evidence of formerly having been painted to imitate marble), and consists of a tall Grecian urn set on a square pedestal, reaching an overall height of approximately 3m. The pedestal has inset white marble plaques on 2 sides, one inscribed "Samuel Johnson LLD/obiit XIII die Decembris/Anno domini MDCCLXXXIV/astatis LXXV", and the other "This spot was often dignified by the presence of Samuel Johnson LLD, whose moral writings exactly conformable to the precepts of Christianity give ardour to virtue and confidence to truth."

Reason for designation

Listed for its special interest as a 1770s monument associated with Dr Johnson, the famous moralist and man of letters, and erected in his lifetime.