#104: The Monument
A tangible reminder of the intangible
A monument is an object that cannot exist on its own. Although tangible, without the intangible thing it stands for, a monument is simply not a monument.
Ironically, at the time of writing, I do not know what this particular monument stands for. I know it as 'Monument' only, the monomer of 'Monument Square' or the 'Monument' metro station in Newcastle. At the minute, although it is certainly monumental — I can see its height towering from the window of Waterstones — it is not fulfilling the role its name denotes:
Monument, from monumentum, Latin for 'reminder’.
This failure is through no fault of its own. Inscribed in gold writing on its stone face is the name it should remind me of: Charles Grey. But I have never read these words. They are high up to read when I am leant against it on my lunch break, too obscured by others to see from afar. The monument reminds me only of cheese sandwiches and books and buskers in the sun.
On top of the monument, however, stands Charles Grey, Prime Minister of Great Britain during the 1830s and namesake of Earl Grey tea. He towers over Newcastle City and reminds us of a man who is no longer with us, and so cannot do his own reminding.
Beyond this monument, though, Charles Grey is remembered via his legacy — not an object, yet its effects are tangible. The Reform Act of 1832 set off a chain of electoral reform culminating with universal suffrage. He also presided over the abolition of slavery in the British Empire in 1833. Oh and then there’s his other monument: the tea.
Perhaps, then, Charles Grey only has a monument because he was a monumental man, someone who would have been remembered in his own right, and the monument is only their to solidify the reminders that are dotted throughout our everyday lives.
So now when I eat my packed lunches, I shall remember this man of reform, and all those A Level history essays he featured in, which were clearly not monumental enough for me to remember Mr. Charles Grey. I shall cast aside my ignorance, and let the monument do its work.
