General Sir Redvers Buller Statue

This grand statue at the junction of Hele Road and New North Road was unveiled on 6th September 1905, by the 3rd Earl Fortescue, Lord Lieutenant of Devon, with General Buller, his wife, Lady Audrey and daughter Georgina and thousands of people in attendance.

To raise funds for the statue, 50,000 people subscribed towards its creation. The work of Captain Adrian Jones (1845-1938), a former vet and cavalry officer, the statue is a typical, although lively, bronze of the type produced in Victorian and Edwardian Britain. It was cast at a foundry at Thames Ditton before conveyance by cart to the Brentford Goods Yard and transportation to Exeter by a GWR train. Jones was also responsible for the four-horse chariot in bronze at Hyde Park Corner.

The statue weighs 4½ tons and stands on a Cornish granite plinth on the site of what was known as the Edinburgh Tree - controversially for the people of Crediton, it faces away from the town, which some thought was a deliberate slight. The granite pedestal, carved by Messrs Pethick of Plymouth, weighs 35 tons and was a gift from Lord St Levan to commemorate the General's connection with Cornwall. The statue depicts Buller astride his horse, 'Biffen', while commanding his troops in South Africa. On the base is inscribed "He Saved Natal".

In 1900, General Buller was presented with a sword of honour in a jewelled scabbard by the men and women of Devon for his exploits. It has been put on permanent loan by the Buller family to Exeter and is now part of the city's civic regalia.

Born at Downes near Crediton, Buller was a prominent benefactor in Crediton and Exeter.