Edith Cavell Memorial

Last updated

Edith Cavell Memorial
The Edith Cavell Memorial (5992690965) (cropped).jpg
The main sculpture and south face of the memorial in 2011
Edith Cavell Memorial
51°30′34″N0°07′38″W / 51.509324°N 0.127183°W / 51.509324; -0.127183
LocationSt. Martin's Place, London, WC2
Designer George Frampton
TypeSculpture
MaterialCarrara marble and grey Cornish granite
Height40 feet (12 m)
Opening date17 March 1920
Dedicated to Edith Cavell

The Edith Cavell Memorial is an outdoor memorial to Edith Cavell by Sir George Frampton, in London, United Kingdom. The memorial is sited in St Martin's Place, beside the A400, just outside the northeast corner of Trafalgar Square, north of St Martin-in-the-Fields, east of the National Gallery and the National Portrait Gallery, and south of the London Coliseum. The site is adjacent to the first headquarters of the British Red Cross, originally located at 7 St Martin's Place.

Contents

Background

Cavell was a British nurse from Norfolk. She was matron at Berkendael Medical Institute in Brussels when the First World War broke out in 1914. In addition to nursing soldiers from both sides without distinction, she assisted some 200 Allied soldiers to escape from German-occupied Belgium. She was arrested in August 1915, court-martialled, found guilty of treason, and shot by a German firing squad on 12 October 1915. Her story was used in British propaganda as an example of German barbarism and moral depravity. Her remains were initially buried in Belgium, but returned to Britain after the war in May 1919 for a state funeral at Westminster Abbey before she was finally buried at Norwich Cathedral. [1] [2]

Although Cavell's sister, Lilian Wainwright, suggested that no monuments should be erected, funds for a public memorial were raised by a committee chaired by Harry Levy-Lawson, 1st Viscount Burnham, owner of The Daily Telegraph , together with the Lord Mayor of London, the Bishop of London, and the chairman of London County Council. Sculptor Sir George Frampton accepted the commission in 1915, but declined any fee. [3]

Description

Statue detail London Edith Cavell Memorial 02.jpg
Statue detail

Frampton adopted a distinctively Modernist style for the memorial, which comprises a 10 feet (3.0 m) high statue of Cavell in her nurse's uniform sculpted from white Carrara marble, standing on a grey Cornish granite pedestal. The statue stands in front of the south side of a larger grey granite pylon which stands 40 feet (12 m) high and weighs 175 tons. [4] The top of the block is carved into a cross and statue of a mother and child, sometimes interpreted as the Virgin and Child. The whole memorial is elevated on three steps.

On the pedestal beneath the statue of Cavell is an inscription which reads: "Edith Cavell // Brussels // Dawn // October 12th 1915 // Patriotism is not enough // I must have no hatred or // bitterness for anyone." The last three lines of the inscription quote her comment to Reverend Stirling Gahan, an Anglican chaplain who was permitted to give her Holy Communion on the night before her execution. These words were initially left off, and added in 1924 at the request of the National Council of Women.

The face of the granite block behind the statue of Cavell bears the inscription "Humanity", and higher up, below the Virgin and Child, "For King and Country". Other faces of the block bear the inscriptions, "Devotion", "Fortitude", and "Sacrifice". On the rear face of the block is a carving of a lion crushing a serpent, and higher up, the inscription, "Faithful until death". [5]

The memorial was unveiled by Queen Alexandra on 17 March 1920. It received a Grade II listing in 1970, [6] and was upgraded to a Grade I listing in 2014. [7]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Cavell</span> British nurse (1865–1915)

Edith Louisa Cavell was a British nurse. She is celebrated for treating wounded soldiers from both sides without discrimination during the First World War and for helping some 200 Allied soldiers escape from German-occupied Belgium. Cavell was arrested, court-martialled under German military law and sentenced to death by firing squad. Despite international pressure for mercy, the German government refused to commute her sentence, and she was shot. The execution received worldwide condemnation and extensive press coverage.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Whittington Hospital</span> NHS hospital in London

Whittington Hospital is a district general and teaching hospital of UCL Medical School and Middlesex University School of Health and Social Sciences. Located in Upper Holloway, it is managed by Whittington Health NHS Trust, operating as Whittington Health, an integrated care organisation providing hospital and community health services in the north London boroughs of Islington and Haringey. Its Jenner Building, a former smallpox hospital, is a Grade II listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St John's Gardens, Liverpool</span> Open space in Liverpool, England

St John's Gardens is an open space in Liverpool, England, to the west of St George's Hall. The gardens are part of the William Brown Street conservation area, and comprise one of the two open spaces within Liverpool's World Heritage Site. It has been a Green Flag site since 2003. The gardens contain ornamental flower beds, and memorials to notable people of the city.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George Frampton</span> British sculptor (1860-1928)

Sir George James Frampton, was a British sculptor. He was a leading member of the New Sculpture movement in his early career when he created sculptures with elements of Art Nouveau and Symbolism, often combining various materials such as marble and bronze in a single piece. While his later works were more traditional in style, Frampton had a prolific career in which he created many notable public monuments, including several statues of Queen Victoria and later, after World War I, a number of war memorials. These included the Edith Cavell Memorial in London, which, along with the Peter Pan statue in Kensington Gardens are possibly Frampton's best known works.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavell Van</span>

The Cavell Van is the prototype Parcels and Miscellaneous Van built by the South Eastern and Chatham Railway in 1919. It is so named because it was the van which carried the body of Edith Cavell when it was repatriated to the United Kingdom following the end of the First World War. The van also carried the bodies of Charles Fryatt and The Unknown Warrior. The three were the only sets of British remains repatriated following the end of World War I. The van served with the South Eastern and Chatham Railway, the Southern Railway and British Railways before entering into preservation at the Kent and East Sussex Railway. The van was fully restored in 2010.

<i>Nurse Edith Cavell</i> 1939 film by Herbert Wilcox

Nurse Edith Cavell is a 1939 American film directed by British director Herbert Wilcox about Edith Cavell. The film was nominated at the 1939 Oscars for Best Original Score.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">St Leonard's Hospital, Hackney</span> Hospital in England

St Leonard's Hospital is a hospital in Hoxton, London.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Moulton War Memorial</span>

Moulton War Memorial stands in Main Road, Moulton, Cheshire, England. It consists of a marble statue of a soldier standing on a sandstone pedestal, and is surrounded by a wrought iron fence. The memorial was designed by Samuel Welsby, and unveiled in 1920. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.

<i>Statue of Queen Victoria, St Helens</i> Public sculpture by George Frampton

The Statue of Queen Victoria stands on the western side of Victoria Square, St Helens, Merseyside, England. It was created after the death of Queen Victoria and given to the town by Colonel William Windle Pilkington, mayor of St Helens in 1902, and a member of the Pilkington glass manufacturers in the town. Pilkington commissioned George Frampton to design it. Frampton used the same model for the figure of the queen for two other statues, but placed it on thrones and pedestals of different designs. The St Helens statue was unveiled by the Earl of Derby in 1905. Originally placed in the centre of Victoria Square, it was moved to a position on the west side of the square in 2000. The statue is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Memorial to Queen Victoria, Leeds</span> Public sculpture by George Frampton

A Memorial to Queen Victoria stands in Woodhouse Moor, Leeds, West Yorkshire, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Anglo-Belgian Memorial, London</span> War memorial in London

The Anglo-Belgian Memorial, also known as the Belgian Gratitude Memorial, Belgian Refugees Memorial, or the Belgian Monument to the British Nation, is a war memorial on Victoria Embankment in London, opposite Cleopatra's Needle. It was a gift from Belgium, as a mark of thanks for assistance given by the UK during the First World War, and in particular for sheltering thousands of Belgian refugees who fled from the war. It is a Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Marie Depage</span> Belgian nurse

Marie Pauline Depage was a Belgian nurse, and wife of Dr Antoine Depage, the Belgian royal surgeon and founder of the Belgian Red Cross. She was killed in the sinking of the RMS Lusitania by German submarine SM U-20, and she is commemorated in Belgium alongside the British nurse Edith Cavell.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cavalry of the Empire Memorial</span> War memorial in Hyde Park, London

The Cavalry of the Empire Memorial, also known as the Cavalry Memorial, is a war memorial in Hyde Park, London. It commemorates the service of cavalry regiments in the First and Second World Wars. It became a Grade II listed building in 1987, and was promoted to Grade II* in November 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hove War Memorial</span> 1921 sculpture by Edwin Lutyens

Hove War Memorial is a First World War memorial designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and located on Grand Avenue in Hove, part of the city of Brighton and Hove, on the south coast of England. Hove was the site of one of the earliest recruiting events at the beginning of the war and later of several military hospitals. Over 600 men from the town were killed during the war, a quarter of them from the local regiment alone. A war memorial committee was established in 1919 and Lutyens was engaged as architect. A design was agreed in 1920 after two unsuccessful proposals; Lutyens chose the site from several options.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Folkestone War Memorial</span> War memorial in Folkestone, England

Folkestone War Memorial is a First World War memorial situated in The Leas area of Folkestone, Kent. Designed by Ferdinand Victor Blundstone and unveiled in 1922, it commemorates the 578 men of Folkestone who served in the war, and those who passed through Folkestone Harbour when Folkestone Harbour railway station nearby was an important point of departure and return for passage to the Western Front via Boulogne. The road from the station to the harbour was renamed the "Road of Remembrance" after the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston upon Thames War Memorial</span> War memorial in London

Kingston upon Thames War Memorial, in the Memorial Garden on Union Street, Kingston upon Thames, London, commemorates the men of the town who died in the First World War. After 1945, the memorial was updated to recognise casualties from the Second World War. The memorial was commissioned by the town council and was designed by the British sculptor Richard Reginald Goulden. The memorial includes a bronze statue of a nude warrior, carrying a flaming cross and wielding a sword with which he defends two children from a serpent, erected on a granite plinth, with bronze plaques listing the names of the dead. Goulden designed a number of such allegorical memorials, including others at Crompton, Greater Manchester, and Redhill, Surrey. The Kingston memorial was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1983. This was revised upwards in 2016 to Grade II*, denoting a building or structure of particular importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Statue of Mary Seacole</span> Artwork at St Thomas Hospital, London

The statue of Mary Seacole stands in the grounds of St Thomas' Hospital, Lambeth, London. Sculpted by Martin Jennings, the statue was executed in 2016. It honours Mary Seacole, a British-Jamaican who established a "British Hotel" during the Crimean War and who was posthumously voted first in a poll of "100 Great Black Britons".

Edith Cavell (1865–1915) was a WWI British nurse and martyr

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Edith Cavell Memorial (Melbourne)</span> Monument in Kings Domain, Melbourne

The Edith Cavell Memorial is an outdoor memorial to Edith Cavell located in Kings Domain, Melbourne, Australia. It consists of a marble bust on a granite pedestal; the bust was sculpted by Margaret Baskerville. The memorial was unveiled in November 1926.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Peace Statue, Brighton</span> 1912 monument by Newbury Abbot Trent.

The Edward VII Memorial, commonly known as the Peace Statue or Peace Memorial, is a statue on the boundary of Brighton and Hove on the English south coast. The monument was built in 1912 and sculpted by Newbury Abbot Trent.

References

  1. London: Memorial to Edith Cavell 20th Century Society
  2. WW2 Escape Limes Memorial Society
  3. Edith Cavell, Diana Souhami, pp. 186–187
  4. The British Journal of Nursing, pp. 189–190, 27 March 1920
  5. "Monument: Edith Cavell statue". LondonRemembers.com. Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  6. "The Edith Cavell Memorial". English Heritage . Retrieved 20 September 2014.
  7. Historic England. "Details from listed building database (1264768)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 9 July 2015., English Heritage

Further reading