The plinth in turn sits on five octagonal stone steps, raising the total height of the monument to about 20 feet (6.1 m).

The Market Square was previously the location of a drinking fountain, designed by John Usher, that had been presented to the town by Thomas Wesley Turnley (solicitor, 1809-1875), erected in 1870 and demolished in 1880.

Gilbert is famed for his aluminium Shaftesbury Memorial Fountain, commonly called Eros but actually of his brother Anteros, in Piccadilly Circus in London.

Chandler Rathfon Post commented that the statue, along with the fountain in Piccadilly, "are as remarkable for the decorative detail of their pedestals as for their principal figures.

"[4] John Howard (1726–1790), born in North London (either Hackney or Enfield),[5] was brought up in Cardington, Bedfordshire, where his father's property was.