A statue of Robert Raikes, often regarded as being the founder of Sunday schools, stands in Victoria Embankment Gardens in London. Executed by the sculptor Thomas Brock, the monument was unveiled by the Earl of Shaftesbury on 3 July 1880. The unveiling marked the centenary of the opening of the first Sunday school in 1780.
The front of the plinth identifies Robert Raikes as the founder of Sunday schools and notes that the statue was erected under the direction of the Sunday School Union. It was funded by contributions from teachers and scholars of Sunday schools in Great Britain in July 1880. The critic Edmund Gosse considered the work to be as good as anything of its kind in England, and in 1958 it was designated a Grade II-listed building.
In 1929, replicas of the statue were cast to be erected in Gloucester and Toronto. These replicas were put in place the following year to mark the 150th anniversary of the opening of the first Sunday school.
Sources: Wikipedia, OpenStreetMap, Wikidata, Wikimedia Commons
Written by Nicolo Ciampini
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