S t o w e  G a r d e n s

T h e   C h a t h a m   U r n

The Chatham Urn at Stowe is a copy of the original, that was sold off in 1848. It stands alone on an island, at the Northern end of the Octagon Lake, obscured by trees. It is a stone sculpture of a vase on a tapering rectangular pedestal, and is a memorial to William Pitt, a British Whig statesman, and Earl of Chatham. He died in 1778. This simple memorial was commissioned by his wife Hester, the Countess of Chatham. The vase bears an oval relief of William Pitt, and is lightly decorated with laurel leaves. There is a smaller urn set on top.

There is an inscription on the pedestal that reads:

Sacred to pure affection, this simple urn stands a witness of unceasing grief for him, who excelling in whatever is so admirable and adding to the exercise of the sublimest virtues, the sweet charm of refined sentiment and polished wit. By gay social commerce rendered beyond comparison, happy the course of domestic life and bestowed a felicity inexpressible on her, whose faithful love was blessed in a pure return that raised her above every other joy but the parental one and that still shared with him. His generous country with public monuments has eternised his fame. This humble tribute is but to soothe the sorrowing breast of private woe.

Notice the line "polished wit". A similar line also appears on the nearby Congreve Monument's epitaph to William Congreve by Lord Cobham.

The original Chatham Vase can now be viewed at Chevening House in Kent.

 

 

 

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