Statue and pedestal, to David Davies of Llandinam

Cadw's description

Location

Situated at the roadside, set back from the eastern end of Llandinam Bridge.

History

The statue was designed in 1890-93 by Alfred Gilbert, sculptor of London, and cast by George Broad and Sons of London, being the second of two; the first stands outside the Board Offices of Barry Dock. The Llandinam statue was erected in 1893 by the bridge that was his first important success, in the parish of his birth.

David Davies (1818-1890) was a self-made engineer, industrialist, entrepreneur and later the Liberal Member of Parliament for Cardigan. He was born in Llandinam, living first at a very modest farmhouse, Draintewion, on Allt gothi, and started work as a sawyer, but it was his commission to make the foundations and approaches to Llandinam Bridge that launched his career as a civil engineering contractor. He built some of the first railway lines in Wales; including the Llanidloes and Newtown (1859) and the Vale of Clwyd Railways. He opened coal mines in the Rhondda Valley, including the Parc and Maerdy pits, and later managed what were known as the 'Ocean Merthyr' pits. He formed a private company in 1887, which he chaired, which became the Ocean Coal Company Ltd. It was this venture, and the inability of the Bute Docks at Cardiff to handle such a large output of coal that led to his plans for a new dock at Barry (1899), together with the necessary railway connections.

Exterior

A standing bronze figure of David Davies in workaday clothes, his left foot forward, studying a plan for the dock and railway development at Barry. The figure stands on a high square plinth of limestone, with a wide cornice of granite. On one side is the inscription DAVID DAVIES 1818-1890.

Reason for designation

Included as a public statue of very high artistic quality by a major artist, and of group value with the Grade II* Llandinam Bridge.