Cardinal Basil Hume Memorial Gardens - Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, UK
Posted by: 
dtrebilc
N 54° 58.138 W 001° 37.132
30U E 588414 N 6092211
This memorial garden and statue of Cardinal Basil Hume was opened by Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II on 7th May 2002, the year of her Golden Jubilee.
Waymark Code: WMNHC3
Location: North East England, United Kingdom
Date Posted: 03/17/2015
Views: 8
"Basil Hume OSB, OM (2 March 1923 – 17 June 1999) was a monk of the English Benedictine monastery of Ampleforth Abbey and for 13 years its abbot until his appointment as Archbishop of Westminster in 1976. His elevation to a cardinal of the Roman Catholic Church followed during the same year.[1] From 1979 Hume served also as President of the Catholic Bishops' Conference of England and Wales. He held these appointments until his death from cancer in 1999. His final resting place is at Westminster Cathedral in the Chapel of St Gregory and St Augustine.[2]
During his lifetime Hume received wide respect from the general public which went beyond the Catholic community.[3] Following his death, a statue of him in his monastic habit and wearing his abbatial cross was erected in his home town of Newcastle upon Tyne outside St Mary's Cathedral (opposite the Central railway Station), unveiled by Queen Elizabeth II.[4]"
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The Statue
The bronze statue depicts the Cardinal wearing a skull cap and monk's habit. It is in a small memorial garden opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 2002, the year of her Golden Jubilee.
It is 9 feet high, sculpted by Nigel Boonham, and stands on a stone platform in the shape of Holy Island (Lindisfarne).
A nearby bronze plaque has the following information.
THE BASIL HUME MEMORIAL GARDEN
THIS STATUE AND MEMORIAL GARDEN WERE UNVEILED ON 7 MAY 2002 BY
HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN
IN THE YEAR OF HER MAJESTY'S GOLDEN JUBILEE
CARDINAL BASIL HULME OSB, 1923-1999, Benedictine monk and Abbot of Ambleforth,
Cardinal Archbishop of Westminster and a favourite son of Tyneside was born George Hume
in Newcastle, the city for which he retained a lifelong affection. This statue and gardens were
commissioned by the Council and people of Newcastle to celebrate Basil Hume's life and
work. The garden reflects Cardinal Hume's particular attachment for the holy landscape of
Northumbrai and the Northern Saints from which he drew spiritual inspiration. Featured are
the shapes of Holy Island (Lindisfarne) and Inner Farne, the remote island where the first
monk-bishops of Lindisfarne lived as hermits. The text is seventeenth-century Caedmon's
Hymn, the earliest Christian poem in Old English(Northumbrian); the translation was an
inspiration for the design of the garden. The boulders are from the shorelines of Holy Island
and Inner Farne; below is a stone from Ampleforth Abbey, Basil Hume's monastic home.
Statue and Memorial Garden designed by sculptor Nigel Boonham FRBS
Her Majesty The Queen
Elizabeth II (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary; born 21 April 1926) is the constitutional monarch of sixteen realms of the 53-member Commonwealth of Nations. She is also Head of the Commonwealth and Supreme Governor of the Church of England.
Upon her accession on 6 February 1952, Elizabeth became Head of the Commonwealth and queen regnant of seven independent Commonwealth countries: the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, Pakistanand Ceylon. Her coronation the following year was the first to be televised. From 1956 to 1992, the number of her realms varied as territories gained independence and some realms became republics. Today, in addition to the first four of the aforementioned countries, Elizabeth is Queen of Jamaica, Barbados, the Bahamas, Grenada, Papua New Guinea, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Belize, Antigua and Barbuda, andSaint Kitts and Nevis. She is the longest-lived and, after her great-great grandmother Queen Victoria, the second longest-reigning British monarch.
Elizabeth has held many titles and honorary military positions throughout the Commonwealth, is Sovereign of many orders in her own countries, and has received honours and awards from around the world. In each of her realms she has a distinct title that follows a similar formula: Queen of Jamaica and her other realms and territories in Jamaica, Queen of Australia and her other realms and territories in Australia, etc.