Virginia Quay Settlers Monument

About

The Virginia Quay Settlers Monument is a public monument in Blackwall, London, to the first settlers of the Colony of Virginia who departed from here in 1606. The monument has its origins in a plaque erected on the Brunswick Dock master's house in 1928. The house was badly damaged by bombing during the Second World War and in 1951 the plaque was incorporated into a monument erected during development of the site into the Brunswick Wharf Power Station.

The monument was designed by Harold Brown and consisted of rough-hewn granite blocks from the walls of the West India Docks surmounted by a bronze sculpture of a mermaid. The mermaid was later stolen. The monument was refurbished by Barratt Homes during redevelopment in 1999.

A polished granite plinth was added and the mermaid replaced by a mariner's astrolabe sculpted by Wendy Taylor. The monument is currently located on the riverside facing the Millennium Dome.