Rodney Memorial

The Rodney Memorial, on the northern side of Spanish Town Square, was erected in homage to Admiral George Rodney, a British naval officer who prevented what was seen as imminent conquest by an invading French and Spanish naval fleet led by Admiral de Grasse in 1782. The memorial is housed in a spectacular structure for its European palatial look and gives a nice facade to the National Archives housed just behind. The statue of Rodney was contracted to one of the most respected sculptors of the day, Englishman John Bacon (1740–1799), who reportedly made two trips to Italy before finding the right block of marble for the job. A panel inside Rodney’s octagonal "temple" tells in Latin of Rodney’s victorious sea battle, which restored some dignity to Britain, badly defeated by the French-American allies in the American War of Independence. Rodney was duly lauded as a national hero and £1,000 was allocated for the monument, which would eventually cost nearly £31,000. The two brass cannons displayed just outside the statue enclosure were taken from defeated Admiral de Grasse’s flagship, Ville de Paris.