The Royal Artillery Boer War Memorial is located on the south side of The Mall in Central London, close to the junction with Horse Guards Road at the northeast corner of St James's Park. Unveiled in 1910, it marks the deaths of the 1,083 soldiers of the Royal Artillery who died in the Second Boer War from 1899 to 1902 [1] It has been a listed building since 1970.
The memorial comprises several bronze sculptural elements by William Robert Colton, mounted on a central square plinth before a curved wall of Portland stone, all standing on granite platform with five steps up from The Mall to the north. Colton had already made the Worcester Boer War Memorial, erected in the grounds of Worcester Cathedral in 1908, including bronze statues of a winged Victory and a soldier. The stone elements were designed by Aston Webb as part of his larger project to upgrade The Mall, which included a new façade for Buckingham Palace, and a wider tree-lined road from the Victoria Memorial to Admiralty Arch. The memorial faces across the road to steps leading up to the Duke of York Column, the equestrian statue of Edward VII and the Guards Crimean War Memorial in Waterloo Place, which are on the same alignment.
The tall plinth supports a life-size bronze statue of a horse representing the Spirit of War, being calmed by a winged personification of Peace holding an olive branch (the figure is sometimes described as Fame). Friezes of bronze plaques near the top and bottom of the plinth show war scenes in high relief, with the motto of the Royal Artillery, "UBIQUE" (everywhere) and "QUO. FAS / ET / GLORIA / DUCUNT" ("where right and glory lead"). Further bronze plaques are mounted as a frieze along the concave wall, bearing the relief inscription "ERECTED BY OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY IN MEMORY OF THEIR HONOURED DEAD IN SOUTH AFRICA 1899-1902". A stone pillar at each end of the wall bears a low relief plaque of a war scene below a bronze wreath around a single initial, "E "(left) and "R" (right). The sides of the pillars bear further plaques listing the names of 1,083 war dead, including some who died after the ceasefire on 31 May 1902, with 61 officers listed together on one panel in order of rank. The panels of names were originally installed horizontally on the floor of the granite platform: after complaints that visitors were inadvertently dishonouring the dead by treading on their names, the panels were resited to the walls.
The memorial was unveiled by Prince Arthur, Duke of Connaught on 20 July 1910. [2] The unveiling was preceded by a memorial service at St Paul's Cathedral, with an electric impulse sent from the cathedral used to drop the flags concealing the memorial.
It is Grade II* listed on the National Heritage List for England. The heritage listing describes the monument as "a war memorial of clear architectural and sculptural quality, designed by two well-respected artists" (Aston Webb and William Colton). [2]
Colton's design for the Staffordshire County War Memorial reused the sculptural group, on a tall stone plinth. After Colton's death in 1921, the Staffordshire memorial was completed by Leonard Stanford Merrifield in 1923.
Sir William Hamo Thornycroft was an English sculptor, responsible for some of London's best-known statues, including the statue of Oliver Cromwell outside the Palace of Westminster. He was a keen student of classical sculpture and was one of the youngest artists to be elected to the Royal Academy, in 1882, the same year the bronze cast of Teucer was purchased for the British nation under the auspices of the Chantrey Bequest.
The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on Hyde Park Corner in London, England. Designed by Charles Sargeant Jagger, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the Royal Artillery killed in the First World War. The static nature of the conflict, particularly on the Western Front, meant that artillery played a major role in the war, though physical reminders of the fighting were often avoided in the years after the war. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918 to preside over the regiment's commemorations, aware of some dissatisfaction with memorials to previous wars. The RAWCF approached several eminent architects but its insistence on a visual representation of artillery meant that none was able to produce a satisfactory design. Thus they approached Jagger, himself an ex-soldier who had been wounded in the war. Jagger produced a design which was accepted in 1922, though he modified it several times before construction.
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.
Sir William Goscombe John was a prolific Welsh sculptor known for his many public memorials. As a sculptor, John developed a distinctive style of his own while respecting classical traditions and forms of sculpture. He gained national attention with statues of eminent Victorians in London and Cardiff and subsequently, after both the Second Boer War and World War I, created a large number of war memorials. These included the two large group works, The Response 1914 in Newcastle upon Tyne and the Port Sunlight War Memorial which are considered the finest sculptural ensembles on any British monument.
William Birnie Rhind RSA (1853–1933) was a Scottish sculptor.
William Robert Colton was a British sculptor. After completing his studies in London and Paris, Colton established himself with solid, career-long business relationships, secured admission to exhibitions at the Royal Academy and the Salon in Paris. His works included commissions for busts, statues and war memorials. His clientele included royalty in England and India.
The Boer War Memorial, also known as the South African War Memorial, stands in a prominent position in Queens Park, Crewe, England. It was erected in memory of local soldiers who had served or fallen in the Boer War, and consists of a bronze statue of soldier in uniform standing on a column on a stone plinth. The monument was unveiled in 1903, and contains plaques with the names of those who were lost in the war. It is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building.
The statue of the Earl Kitchener is an outdoor bronze statue by John Tweed depicting Herbert Kitchener, 1st Earl Kitchener, installed in 1926 and located on the south side of Horse Guards Parade in London, United Kingdom. The sculpture stands on a Portland stone plinth. It became a Grade II listed building in 1970.
The Royal Marines Memorial, also known as the Graspan Royal Marines Memorial, is an outdoor bronze sculpture by Adrian Jones, installed on the north side of The Mall in London, United Kingdom. Located next to Admiralty Arch, the 1903 memorial commemorates the Royal Marines who died in the Boxer Rebellion in China and the Second Boer War in Africa, and depicts two figures on a Portland stone plinth. It is named after the Battle of Graspan, in which the Royal Marines participated in.
The London Troops War Memorial, located in front of the Royal Exchange in the City of London, commemorates the men of London who fought in World War I and World War II.
The Portsmouth Naval Memorial, sometimes known as Southsea Naval Memorial, is a war memorial in Portsmouth, Hampshire, England, on Southsea Common beside Clarence Esplanade, between Clarence Pier and Southsea Castle. The memorial commemorates approximately 25,000 British and Commonwealth sailors who were lost in the World Wars, around 10,000 sailors in the First World War, and 15,000 in the Second World War. The memorial features a central obelisk, with names of the dead on bronze plaques arranged around the memorial according to the year of death.
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.
The Boer War Memorial in Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, is on Anzac Parade on the western row of memorials near Lake Burley Griffin. This commemorates the Military history of Australia during the Second Boer War, 1899-1902.
A bronze statue of General Charles George Gordon by Hamo Thornycroft stands on a stone plinth in the Victoria Embankment Gardens in London. It has been Grade II listed since 1970. A similar statue stands at Gordon Reserve, near Parliament House in Melbourne, Australia, on its original tall plinth.
Streatham War Memorial is a war memorial to the war dead of the London district of Streatham in the two World Wars. It was unveiled in 1922, and is sited near the northwest corner of Streatham Common, London Borough of Lambeth, England.
Onslow Ernest Whiting was an English sculptor and teacher.
The City of Portsmouth War Memorial, also referred to as the Guildhall Square War Memorial, is a First World War memorial in Guildhall Square in the centre of Portsmouth, Hampshire, on the south coast of England. Portsmouth was and remains a port and home to a major naval dockyard. The dockyard and the armed forces provided much of the employment in the area in the early 20th century. As such, the town suffered significant losses in the First World War. Planning for a war memorial began shortly after the end of the conflict and a committee was established for the purpose. It selected a site adjacent to a railway embankment close to the Town Hall and chose the architects James Gibson and Walter Gordon, with sculptural elements by Charles Sargeant Jagger, from an open competition.
The Gladstone Memorial on the Strand, London is a bronze sculpture of the British statesman, created by Hamo Thornycroft between 1899-1905. The statue was erected as the national memorial to Gladstone and shows him in the robes of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. The figure stands on a plinth surrounded by allegorical figures depicting four of the Virtues, Courage, Brotherhood, Education and Aspiration. The memorial is a Grade II listed structure.
The Worcester Boer War Memorial in Worcester, England, was unveiled near Worcester Cathedral in 1908. The war memorial commemorates casualties of the Second Boer War from the county of Worcestershire. It was designated a Grade II* listed building in 1999.
The Prince Christian Victor Memorial is a war memorial on The Hoe in Plymouth. It was erected in 1902 to commemorate the death of Prince Christian Victor of Schleswig-Holstein, the eldest son of Queen Victoria's third daughter Princess Helena. He died of typhoid fever during the Second Boer War. It became a Grade II listed building in 1975.