The Cavalry of the Empire Memorial, also known as the Cavalry Memorial, is a
war memorial in
Hyde Park
Hyde Park may refer to:
Places
England
* Hyde Park, London, a Royal Park in Central London
* Hyde Park, Leeds, an inner-city area of north-west Leeds
* Hyde Park, Sheffield, district of Sheffield
* Hyde Park, in Hyde, Greater Manchester
Austra ...
, 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.
Background
A committee was formed in early 1920 to consider a proposal for a memorial in London to the cavalrymen who had served in the First World War. According to figures in Volume 8 of the ''History of the British Cavalry 1816–1919'' by
Henry Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey
George Charles Henry Victor Paget, 7th Marquess of Anglesey (8 October 1922 – 13 July 2013), styled Earl of Uxbridge until 1947, was a British peer and a military historian.
Biography
Henry Paget was the son of Charles Paget, 6th Marquess ...
, nearly 4,500 cavalrymen were killed on the
Western Front Western Front or West Front may refer to:
Military frontiers
*Western Front (World War I), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (World War II), a military frontier to the west of Germany
*Western Front (Russian Empire), a majo ...
, and another 15,000 were wounded. Sites for a memorial were considered, on
The Mall opposite
Marlborough Gate or at the
Duke of York's Steps, or at
Horse Guards Parade, but the
Office of Works preferred a location near
Stanhope Gate in Hyde Park, in front of
Dorchester House
Dorchester House was a mansion in Park Lane, Westminster, London, which has had many different forms over time. The last version used as a private residence was that built in 1853 by Robert Stayner Holford. It was demolished in 1929 to make way ...
.
Sir
John James Burnet was appointed as architect, assisted by
Thomas Smith Tait
Thomas Smith Tait (18 June 1882 – 18 July 1954) was a Scottish modernist architect. He designed a number of buildings around the world in Art Deco and Streamline Moderne styles, notably St. Andrew's House (the headquarters of the Scottish ...
, and a statue was designed by
Adrian Jones, with advice from Major
Victor Farquharson and Sir
Henry Farnham Burke. Jones had served as a veterinary officer in the British Army in the late 19th century, including active service in the
Abyssinian Expedition of 1868, the
First Boer War in 1880–81, and the
Nile Expedition
The Nile Expedition, sometimes called the Gordon Relief Expedition (1884–85), was a British mission to relieve Major-General Charles George Gordon at Khartoum, Sudan. Gordon had been sent to the Sudan to help Egyptians evacuate from Sudan af ...
of 1884–85.
Design
For the memorial, Jones designed a bronze equestrian statue of
St George
Saint George (Greek language, Greek: Γεώργιος (Geórgios), Latin language, Latin: Georgius, Arabic language, Arabic: القديس جرجس; died 23 April 303), also George of Lydda, was a Christians, Christian who is venerated as a sa ...
, depicted as a mounted knight in armour with sword raised aloft, slightly larger than life size, with his horse standing over the coils of a slain dragon (with upturned Germanic moustache). A frieze of horsemen parade around the base of the statue. Some details of St George's armour were copied from a bronze effigy of
Richard de Beauchamp, 13th Earl of Warwick from 1454, and the horse was adapted from an engraving of St George by
Albrecht Dürer
Albrecht Dürer (; ; hu, Ajtósi Adalbert; 21 May 1471 – 6 April 1528),Müller, Peter O. (1993) ''Substantiv-Derivation in Den Schriften Albrecht Dürers'', Walter de Gruyter. . sometimes spelled in English as Durer (without an umlaut) or Due ...
.
The statue was cast from guns captured by the cavalry in the First World War, and mounted on a
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
pedestal which bears an inscription, extended after the Second World War to read:
"ERECTED // BY THE // CAVALRY OF THE EMPIRE // IN MEMORY OF // COMRADES // WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES // IN THE WAR // 1914–1919 // ALSO // IN THE WAR // 1939–1945"
Brunet designed a classical backdrop for the statue, built with
Portland stone
Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...
, which shielded the memorial from Park Lane. The backdrop housed a bronze plaque listing the 150 cavalry units from Australia, Canada, India, New Zealand, Pakistan and the UK, that served in the forces of the British Empire in the First World War, along with the names of four British cavalry officers who became Field Marshals:
Haig,
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
,
Allenby Allenby is a surname of English origin. Notable people with the surname include:
* Edmund Allenby, 1st Viscount Allenby (1861–1936), British Army field-marshal
** Named for the above:
**Allenby Street, Tel Aviv, Israel
**Allenby Bridge between J ...
and
Robertson.
Reception
The memorial was unveiled on 21 May 1924 by Field Marshal
John French, 1st Earl of Ypres
Field Marshal John Denton Pinkstone French, 1st Earl of Ypres, (28 September 1852 – 22 May 1925), known as Sir John French from 1901 to 1916, and as The Viscount French between 1916 and 1922, was a senior British Army officer. Born in Kent to ...
and the
Prince of Wales, accompanied by Prince
Arthur of Connaught and the
Chaplain-General to the Forces
The Royal Army Chaplains' Department (RAChD) is an all-officer department that provides ordained clergy to minister to the British Army.
History
The Army Chaplains' Department (AChD) was formed by Royal Warrant of 23 September 1796; until the ...
John Taylor Smith.
As
Park Lane was widened in 1960, the memorial was moved to a new site about further west in 1961, along the Horse Ride beside
Serpentine Road, near the Hyde Park bandstand, and re-erected on a granite base. The backdrop was not reconstructed: instead, the bronze plaque was mounted on a granite screen behind the relocated statue.
Nearby is the memorial to the soldiers of the
Household Cavalry who were killed in the
Hyde Park and Regent's Park bombings in 1982.
File:The War Memorials of the First World War Q42406.jpg, The memorial before the Second World War, in its original position with stone backdrop
File: Cavalry of the Empire Monument, Hyde Park W1 - geograph.org.uk - 1384932.jpg, Setting and panels on screen behind
File:Cavalry Memorial 1.jpg, Inscription
File:Cavalry Memorial 5.jpg, Detail of frieze
See also
*
Grade II* listed war memorials in England
References
*
Cavalry Memorial, Stanhope Gate, Hyde Park Corner The Western Front Association
Cavalry Memorial royalparks.org.uk
Cavalry Of The Empire – WW1 Imperial War Museum
The Cavalry Memorial Department of Veteran Affairs, Australian Government
ww1cemeteries.com
{{coord, 51.50469, -0.15526, format=dms, type:landmark_region:GB, display=title
1924 establishments in England
1924 sculptures
British military memorials and cemeteries
Buildings and structures completed in 1924
Equestrian statues in the United Kingdom
Grade II* listed statues in the City of Westminster
Grade II* listed monuments and memorials
Buildings and structures in Hyde Park, London
Military memorials in London
Monuments and memorials in London
Outdoor sculptures in London
Saint George (martyr)
World War I memorials in England
World War II memorials in England