The monument was erected in 1897 in memory of Alfred, Lord Tennyson. Although some modern accounts, including the statutory list description, do not identify its designer, contemporary evidence attributes the monument to J. L. Pearson. The Author reported that the memorial committee had accepted a design submitted by Pearson for an Iona cross, while Arthur Warren, a member of the committee, subsequently recalled that the cross had been designed by Pearson. No alternative designer appears to have been identified.