Tomb of Robert Owen, including Railings

Cadw's description

Location

Set against the south side of the former Parish Church.

History

Slate chest tomb dates from 1858 but original railings replaced in 1902 with Art Nouveau ironwork by Alfred Toft at a cost of £500.

Robert Owen (1771-1858) was an instigator of the co-operative movement, a founder of British socialism and a campaigner for education and improved conditions for working people and the reduction of child labour. He said in 1817 his aim was to benefit “my fellow men of every rank and description, of every country and colour”. Born in Newtown, Owen became a manager of cotton mills including New Lanark in Scotland, which became well-known as a model industrial community after Owen established free schools and an Institute for the Formation of Character there. Owen’s mills relied on slave labour in Britain’s colonies and the United States for their raw material. In principle Owen disapproved of slavery which he said would “die a natural death” within a generation if his plans to transform society and the economy were put into practice, and he praised the Republic of Mexico for abolishing slavery. He argued against immediate abolition in the British Empire though and suggested that British slaves would be worse off if they were emancipated from their “humane masters” and “urged forward beyond the present happy ignorant state in which they are”. In A New View of Society and later books Owen argued that people’s character was shaped by their environment and advocated for planned co-operative villages of workers without money or private property. In 1825 he left New Lanark and attempted to put his ideas into practice, purchasing the town of New Harmony, Indiana in the USA. Owen then moved to London where he continued to argue for social change and fairer rewards for the working class, returning to Wales near the end of his life.

Exterior

Square enclosure of fine decorative iron railings on stone plinth. Cresting to rear with bronze portrait relief. Fine foliate ironwork to front supports relief depicting Owen giving justice to workers. Motto below "Each for All". Cast iron pillars to corners, sunk panels with classical motifs, globe finials.

Reason for designation

Included at Grade II* for special architectural interest as a fine example of commemorative sculpture, and for special historic interest as commemorating Robert Owen, celebrated as a socialist, educationalist and workplace reformer. Group value.