Man on a Horse

I'm afraid the name of this chappie escapes me at the moment, but you would not believe how much argument he has caused!

A couple of years back the council decided to remodel Durham Market Place at a cost of over £5 million. This involved the removal, cleaning and re-positioning of this statue so that he moved slightly up the hill and faced in the opposite direction. It seemed that nobody wanted this to be done, everyone objected, nobody liked it when it was done anyway, and all the local shop holders were dramatically down on their takings during the extended period of construction.

In addition to this I believe the gentleman concerned was a local mine owner hated for his treatment of the miners, and many have called for the statue to be removed in the past for this reason.

Whatever your feelings about it, the man-on-a-horse is (and always has been) a convenient landmark to use as a meeting place, and people seem to gravitate to the steps around the base.