Royal Artillery Memorial
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The Royal Artillery Memorial is a First World War memorial located on
Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the j ...
in London, England. Designed by
Charles Sargeant Jagger Charles Sargeant Jagger (17 December 1885 – 16 November 1934) was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal ...
, with architectural work by Lionel Pearson, and unveiled in 1925, the memorial commemorates the 49,076 soldiers from the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
killed in the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
. 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. The memorial consists of a Portland stone
cruciform Cruciform is a term for physical manifestations resembling a common cross or Christian cross. The label can be extended to architectural shapes, biology, art, and design. Cruciform architectural plan Christian churches are commonly describe ...
base supporting a one-third over-lifesize sculpture of a howitzer (a type of artillery field gun), which Jagger based on a gun in the Imperial War Museum. At the end of each arm of the cross is a sculpture of a soldier—an officer at the front (south side), a shell carrier on the east side, a driver on the west side, and at the rear (north) a dead soldier. The sides of the base are decorated with
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
sculptures depicting wartime scenes. The realism of the memorial, with the depiction of the howitzer and the dead soldier, differed significantly from other First World War memorials, notably the influential
Cenotaph A cenotaph is an empty tomb or a monument erected in honour of a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It can also be the initial tomb for a person who has since been reinterred elsewhere. Although the vast majority of cenot ...
, which used pure architectural forms and classical symbolism. The design was controversial when unveiled; some critics viewed the dead soldier as too graphic or felt that the howitzer did not lend itself to rendition in stone. Nonetheless, the memorial was popular with others, including ex-servicemen, and later came to be recognised as Jagger's masterpiece and one of Britain's finest war memorials. The memorial was unveiled by Prince Arthur on 18 October 1925. Dedications were later added to the memorial in memory of the 29,924 Royal Artillerymen killed in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. It underwent restoration in 2011 after years of weathering and water ingress. The memorial is a Grade I
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
and is managed by
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
; it now shares its site with multiple other military monuments and war memorials.


Background

The
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, which took place between 1914 and 1918, saw the extensive use of
artillery Artillery is a class of heavy military ranged weapons that launch munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during siege ...
, particularly on the Western Front. Technical advances, combined with the relatively static nature of
trench warfare Trench warfare is a type of land warfare using occupied lines largely comprising military trenches, in which troops are well-protected from the enemy's small arms fire and are substantially sheltered from artillery. Trench warfare became ar ...
, made these guns a key element of the conflict: over half the casualties in the war were caused by artillery. Artillery guns and their crews were themselves targets, and 49,076 members of the Royal Artillery died during the conflict.Stephenson, p.144. In the years after the war, many former servicemen, including gunners, found the scale of the losses difficult to deal with, or felt that their trust in the political leadership that had led them into the war had been challenged.Miles, p.102. Visual reminders of the conflict were often avoided: mutilated servicemen, for example, were banned in the 1920s from joining in veterans' marches, and those with facial injuries often hid them in public. Where sculpture of human figures was used in First World War memorials, it tended to depict allegorical figures such as Peace or
Victory The term victory (from Latin ''victoria'') originally applied to warfare, and denotes success achieved in personal combat, after military operations in general or, by extension, in any competition. Success in a military campaign constitutes ...
. Sculptures of soldiers were uncommon. Where they were used, the soldiers appeared healthy and smartly presented in military uniform, not dishevelled or injured.Abousnnouga and Machin (2013), pp.92–93. The Royal Artillery War Commemoration Fund (RAWCF) was formed in 1918, made up of a mixture of commissioned officers and other ranks.Black (2004a), p.141. The RAWCF's intention was to remember the artillerymen who had died during the war, and after some discussions of various options, including purchasing a house for wounded soldiers, or building a number of small shrines across the country, the RAWCF decided to construct a single memorial to the fallen Royal Artillery servicemen. Memorials to lost servicemen from the previous major conflict, the South African War fought between 1899 and 1902, had been widely criticised as being unimaginative and members of the RAWCF were unimpressed by the Royal Artillery's memorial to that war, located on the Mall. As a result of these problems, the prominent artist Sir Edward Poynter put forward recommendations that far more care, time and funding be given to the construction of future war memorials, which were taken on board by the RAWCF.Curl, pp.81–83. The RAWCF first explored the option of joining some form of national commemoration which was under consideration in the aftermath of the First World War, initially wishing to spend only a small proportion of the fund on a physical monument. Plans were floated for a national memorial in the vicinity of Buckingham Palace or on the Mall. Another option mooted was a memorial cloister attached to
Westminster Abbey Westminster Abbey, formally titled the Collegiate Church of Saint Peter at Westminster, is an historic, mainly Gothic church in the City of Westminster, London, England, just to the west of the Palace of Westminster. It is one of the Unite ...
, with contributions from the Royal Artillery and other regiments, though this was quickly discarded as unlikely to gain approval from the relevant authorities. The national proposals stalled, partly because of concerns that individual regiments would not be able to maintain their individuality—something of great importance to the RAWCF—within a uniform whole. The RAWCF began exploring sites for its own individual monument, either at
Hyde Park Corner Hyde Park Corner is between Knightsbridge, Belgravia and Mayfair in London, England. It primarily refers to its major road junction at the southeastern corner of Hyde Park, that was designed by Decimus Burton. Six streets converge at the j ...
or on the edge of
Buckingham Palace gardens Buckingham Palace Garden is a large private park attached to the London residence of the monarch. It is situated to the rear (west) of Buckingham Palace, occupying a site in the City of Westminster and forms the largest private garden in the capi ...
. The RAWCF sought a design that would be "unmistakably recognisable" as an artillery monument, and were insistent that the eventual designer take detailed advice from a junior officer who had served in the war.


Commissioning

The RAWCF first examined a design by Captain Adrian Jones, who produced the Boer War Cavalry Memorial a few years before, but his design was rejected.Curl, p.83.Skelton and Gliddon, p.150. Next, the committee contacted the architects
Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...
,
Herbert Baker Sir Herbert Baker (9 June 1862 – 4 February 1946) was an English architect remembered as the dominant force in South African architecture for two decades, and a major designer of some of New Delhi's most notable government structures. He wa ...
, and
Sir Aston Webb Sir Aston Webb (22 May 1849 – 21 August 1930) was a British architect who designed the principal facade of Buckingham Palace and the main building of the Victoria and Albert Museum, among other major works around England, many of them in par ...
(designer of the regiment's Boer War memorial). Lutyens sent in three designs, each costed at less than £15,000 (approximately ), but several committee members felt them to be too similar to
the Cenotaph The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the British and Commonwealth dead of the First World War, was rededicated in 19 ...
and to give insufficient prominence to artillery. Further problems arose when the
Office of Works The Office of Works was established in the English royal household in 1378 to oversee the building and maintenance of the royal castles and residences. In 1832 it became the Works Department forces within the Office of Woods, Forests, Land Reven ...
stated that it would not approve Lutyens' designs on the grounds that all would be too tall for their surroundings. After the RAWCF insisted that a howitzer be prominently incorporated into the designs, Lutyens withdrew. Baker disagreed with the concept of single service monuments, but submitted a proposal costed at over £25,000 (approximately ), which was declined and he withdrew from the project. Webb declined to submit a proposal and also withdrew. The committee then approached the sculptor
Charles Sargeant Jagger Charles Sargeant Jagger (17 December 1885 – 16 November 1934) was a British sculptor who, following active service in the First World War, sculpted many works on the theme of war. He is best known for his war memorials, especially the Royal ...
in early 1921. Jagger trained as a metal engraver before attending the
Royal College of Art The Royal College of Art (RCA) is a public research university in London, United Kingdom, with campuses in South Kensington, Battersea and White City. It is the only entirely postgraduate art and design university in the United Kingdom. It o ...
. He served in the infantry during the First World War and was injured at the battles of Gallipoli and Neuve-Église, being awarded the
Military Cross The Military Cross (MC) is the third-level (second-level pre-1993) military decoration awarded to officers and (since 1993) other ranks of the British Armed Forces, and formerly awarded to officers of other Commonwealth countries. The MC ...
. At the end of the war, Jagger became involved in the design of war memorials, which formed the basis of his artistic reputation. His first major memorial commission was the Hoylake and West Kirby War Memorial. The realism and starkness of the sculptures there marked Jagger out as unconventional among war memorial designers. Nonetheless, it was highly celebrated after it was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1921, and led to other commissions across England and on foreign battlefields. Other examples include the Great Western Railway War Memorial at
Paddington station Paddington, also known as London Paddington, is a Central London railway terminus and London Underground station complex, located on Praed Street in the Paddington area. The site has been the London terminus of services provided by the Great ...
in London,
Portsmouth War Memorial 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 por ...
, and the Anglo-Belgian Memorial in Brussels, though the Royal Artillery memorial is arguably his leading work.Boorman, p.154.Abousnnouga and Machin (2013), p.92. Most of these works were in the design stage or under construction concurrently. Jagger was approached by the RAWCF both because of his reputation as a designer and because of his service as an infantry officer, although the American artist John Sargent, a patron of Jagger's, may have encouraged the committee to consider the young artist. General Sir John Du Cane, a member of the RAWCF committee, encouraged his fellow members to consider Jagger on the grounds that the memorial would be the work which established Jagger's reputation and thus the sculptor would produce his best work. The RAWCF requested that he submit a model for a realist sculpture, which should include a group of soldiers in bronze on a pedestal. The RAWCF felt that a realist design would have broader appeal and would be inclusive of the tastes of ordinary artillerymen—rather than catering solely for the tastes of the officers—while at the same time creating a historical record of the era for future generations.Ward-Jackson, p.99. Jagger engaged the architect Lionel Pearson to design the stone structure of the memorial, and through June and July 1921 the RAWCF and the authorities considered the proposal. Jagger's model was similar to the eventual memorial, but had only two gunners at either end of an oblong memorial; the howitzer on the top was smaller than the eventual version, and pointed sideways, rather than lengthways along the pedestal. In reporting to the committee, Jagger said that he felt strongly that the design should unashamedly focus on the events of the war, noting that it "should ''in every sense'' be a war memorial". Jagger explained that the artillery had "terrific power" and was the "last word in force", and that the howitzer he had chosen was the only suitable weapon to symbolise those capabilities.Curl, p.85. During the design process, the committee presented Jagger with many suggestions. He gladly accepted their advice on technical matters related to artillery procedures and the appearance of the howitzer, but was protective of his artistic independence and would not brook suggestions which he felt would impinge on the quality of the work. There were concerns on the committee that the design would shock members of the public, especially women, but the RAWCF eventually voted 50 to 15 in favour of accepting the design and the proposed cost of £25,000. Jagger was formally awarded the contract for the memorial in March 1922. Jagger at that time was preoccupied with the Anglo-Belgian Memorial in Brussels and did not begin work on the Royal Artillery memorial until October, at which point he made several changes to the proposed design, which he submitted to the RAWCF early the following year. The revised memorial would be a third larger than before, cruciform in plan, and guarded by three bronze soldiers. Jagger rotated the howitzer by 90 degrees, bringing it into line with the main axis of the base, pointing towards the Wellington Arch. After much discussion—including advice from Lutyens and
Sir Reginald Blomfield Sir Reginald Theodore Blomfield (20 December 1856 – 27 December 1942) was a prolific British architect, garden designer and author of the Victorian and Edwardian period. Early life and career Blomfield was born at Bow rectory in Devon, w ...
representing the Royal Fine Arts Commission—Jagger agreed that the howitzer would point south to produce a pleasing silhouette from the park. The change also resolved an objection raised by the King about the "gloomy" figure on the front of the memorial staring down Constitution Hill towards Buckingham Palace. A year-long debate occurred within the RAWCF as to what inscription should be placed on the memorial, adding to the delay.Curl, p.94. Jagger made another change in early 1924, adding an effigy of a dead soldier to the fourth side of the memorial, in keeping with the soldiers on the other three sides. The proposal proved controversial. Although recumbent effigies were not uncommon on tombs and (to a lesser extent) war memorials, a sculpture of a dead soldier at eye level was an unusual and dramatic feature among First World War memorials—architects often preferred abstract, classical designs (such as the Cenotaph) or portrayed death through allegory. Jagger was adamant about the inclusion, even offering to pay for the casting of the additional figure himself. After considerable debate, the RAWCF agreed to the modification.King, p.135. Jagger's work continued to take longer than planned, partially due to shortages of staff, the need to approve each amendment to the plan, and practical problems on the site itself. The names of his models for three of the statues are known—William Fosten for the driver, another ex-gunner called Metcalfe for the ammunition carrier, and Lieutenant Eugene Paul Bennett, VC, who fought in the same regiment as Jagger, for the commander.Bowdler and Brindle, p.33.


Design and symbolism

The Royal Artillery Memorial is located in what Malcolm Miles has termed the "leafy traffic island" of Hyde Park Corner in central London. It is one of several war memorials which dominate the roundabout and its surrounds; it is directly opposite the
Wellington Arch Wellington Arch, also known as Constitution Arch or (originally) as the Green Park Arch, is a Grade I-listed triumphal arch by Decimus Burton that forms a centrepiece of Hyde Park Corner in central London, between corners of Hyde Park and ...
while at the north end is another memorial to the
Duke of Wellington Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington, (1 May 1769 – 14 September 1852) was an Anglo-Irish people, Anglo-Irish soldier and Tories (British political party), Tory statesman who was one of the leading military and political figures of Uni ...
in the form of an equestrian statue. Other memorials in the vicinity include the Machine Gun Corps Memorial, the
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and
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
war memorials, and the
Commonwealth Memorial Gates The Memorial Gates are a war memorial located at the Hyde Park Corner end of Constitution Hill in London. Also known as the Commonwealth Memorial Gates, they commemorate the armed forces of the British Empire from five regions of the Indian sub ...
. The Royal Artillery Memorial is 43 feet long, 21 feet wide and 30 feet high (13 metres by 6 metres by 9 metres); the pedestal and the one-third over-lifesize replica of a
BL 9.2-inch howitzer The Ordnance BL 9.2-inch howitzer was a heavy siege howitzer that formed the principal counter-battery equipment of British forces in France in World War I. It equipped a substantial number of siege batteries of the Royal Garrison Artillery. It r ...
, modelled on a gun in the Imperial War Museum, that sits on top of it are made of Portland stone. The plinth is in the form of a squat Roman cross. Cast by the A. B. Burton foundry, bronze figures are placed at the ends of each arm—an artillery captain holding a greatcoat at the front (facing south, below the barrel of the howitzer); a
shell Shell may refer to: Architecture and design * Shell (structure), a thin structure ** Concrete shell, a thin shell of concrete, usually with no interior columns or exterior buttresses ** Thin-shell structure Science Biology * Seashell, a hard o ...
carrier on the east side; a driver wearing a heavy cape to the west; and to the north, a dead soldier on the north, his greatcoat thrown over him and his helmet resting on his chest.Ward-Jackson, p.97. Carved stone
relief Relief is a sculptural method in which the sculpted pieces are bonded to a solid background of the same material. The term '' relief'' is from the Latin verb ''relevo'', to raise. To create a sculpture in relief is to give the impression that th ...
s show various detailed military scenes from the First World War—two on each side, one larger than the other—and the Royal Arms with the Artillery's cannon badge. The reliefs on the east side portray an action by
heavy artillery The formal definition of large-calibre artillery used by the United Nations Register of Conventional Arms (UNROCA) is "guns, howitzers, artillery pieces, combining the characteristics of a gun, howitzer, mortar, or multiple-launch rocket syst ...
and the crew of a howitzer; on the west side is an action involving horse artillery and a signaller and telephonist on the smaller relief.Glaves-Smith, p.61. The memorial's main inscription on the west and east faces reads "In proud remembrance of the forty-nine thousand and seventy-six of all ranks of the Royal Regiment of Artillery who gave their lives for King and country in the Great War 1914—1919". Beneath the dead soldier is the inscription "Here was a royal fellowship of death", a quote from William Shakespeare's '' Henry V'', which was suggested by Jagger himself. The memorial forms a sharp contrast with both the earlier monuments of the South African War and most monuments contemporary to the First World War. Memorials of the South African War typically included figures of soldiers, sometimes dying in conflict, but always heroically in a "beautiful death". Classical symbolism was often used to distance the event of death from the observer, as typified in
William Colton William Colton (born March 6, 1946) is an American politician who represents District 47 in the New York State Assembly, which comprises Bath Beach, Bensonhurst, Gravesend, Dyker Heights and Midwood. First elected to the Assembly in 1996, Colto ...
's work at
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.Glaves-Smith, p.72. Most First World War memorials reacted to the criticism of this approach by adopting cleaner architectural forms, but still retaining the ideal of a "beautiful death", an approach which can be seen at Lutyens' Southampton Cenotaph, the precursor to his more famous Cenotaph on
Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...
. These memorials frequently used abstract designs intended to remove the viewer from the real world, and focus them on an idealised sense of self-sacrifice. Soldiers in these memorials were still frequently depicted as
Homer Homer (; grc, Ὅμηρος , ''Hómēros'') (born ) was a Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Homer is considered one of the ...
ic warriors, and classical ideals and symbols remained popular, as can be seen at the Machine Gun Corps Memorial by Francis Derwent Wood, close to the Royal Artillery Memorial. Where dead soldiers were shown, they were depicted in an image of serenity and peace, often physically distanced from the viewer on a high platform, the entire effect enhanced by the silence that traditionally surrounds ceremonies at the Cenotaph.Carden-Coyne, p.156. The Royal Artillery Monument attempted a very different effect. Jagger takes a realist approach to his figures, embracing detailed images of military power with none of the classical symbolism of other monuments, or even Jagger's own pre-war pieces. The art historian Reginald Wilenski likens the memorial to the work of Frank Brangwyn, who focused on depicting the physical labour of soldiers and workers during the war. The memorial shows the three upright bronze figures stood at ease, rather than to attention; the driver leans back against the parapet, his cape hanging over his outstretched arms, suggesting an attitude of exhaustion or contemplation. The faceless, heavily laden statue of the fallen soldier appears less at rest than exhausted, pulled down as if by a great weight. At the same time, the sheer size of the memorial, including the oversized gun and larger-than-life bronze figures, exudes a sense of strength and power; the figures are stocky, confident and imposing. This contributes to the sense of masculinity that pervades the work, from the
phallic A phallus is a penis (especially when Erection, erect), an object that resembles a penis, or a mimesis, mimetic image of an erect penis. In art history a figure with an erect penis is described as ithyphallic. Any object that symbolically— ...
image of the howitzer, to the solid, muscular figures of the gunners. Despite the realist nature of the bronze statues in the design, commentators have often also noted the dehumanising aspects of the memorial. Its sheer size and the bulk of the howitzer serve to distance the observer, which—according to art historian John Glaves-Smith—depersonalises the soldiers in a similar way to the
Cubist Cubism is an early-20th-century avant-garde art movement that revolutionized European painting and sculpture, and inspired related movements in music, literature and architecture. In Cubist artwork, objects are analyzed, broken up and reassemble ...
war paintings of
Wyndham Lewis Percy Wyndham Lewis (18 November 1882 – 7 March 1957) was a British writer, painter and critic. He was a co-founder of the Vorticist movement in art and edited ''BLAST,'' the literary magazine of the Vorticists. His novels include ''Tarr'' ( ...
and Richard Nevinson. The carved stone reliefs have an aggressive, hostile quality to them, a consequence of their focus on surface detail at the expense of the humans in the design. When questioned about his lifelike depictions, Jagger said that the "experience in the trenches persuaded me of the necessity for frankness and truth". According to historian John Glaves-Smith, the memorial uses themes of "endurance and sacrifice, not dynamism and conflict", and thus speaks to its audience about the experience of war in a way that the Cenotaph, for example, does not.


Critical reception

The Royal Artillery Memorial has been the subject of much critical discussion since its inception. Although the RAWCF was pleased with its memorial, some members disapproved of the design and of the dead soldier in particular. Some felt that it was too graphic, or that it would be distressing to relatives and others who should have been consoled by the memorial, while a group of former artillerymen felt that any recumbent figure should be of a man just shot down so as to present a more heroic image.
Charles ffoulkes Charles John ffoulkes (1868–1947) was a British historian, and curator of the Royal Armouries at London. He was a younger son of the Reverend Edmund ffoulkes. He wrote extensively on medieval arms and armour. ffoulkes was selected as the C ...
, the inaugural curator of the Imperial War Museum, was more impressed, and described the corpse as "a poignant and tremendous statement of fact which unconsciously makes the onlooker raise his hat". The figure was shocking to a public who were unused to graphic images of the war due to censorship. After the unveiling, a vigorous debate occurred in the British newspapers about the memorial. ''
The Times ''The Times'' is a British daily national newspaper based in London. It began in 1785 under the title ''The Daily Universal Register'', adopting its current name on 1 January 1788. ''The Times'' and its sister paper '' The Sunday Times'' (f ...
'' was critical, comparing it unfavourably to the Cenotaph, while ''
The Daily Mail The ''Daily Mail'' is a British daily middle-market tabloid newspaper and news websitePeter Wilb"Paul Dacre of the Daily Mail: The man who hates liberal Britain", ''New Statesman'', 19 December 2013 (online version: 2 January 2014) publishe ...
'' highlighted the cost of the monument, and argued that the money could have been better spent on directly caring for injured veterans. Both the dead soldier and the howitzer drew particular comment; art critic
Selwyn Image Selwyn Image (17 February 1849, Bodiam, Sussex – 21 August 1930, London) was an important British artist, designer, writer and poet associated with the Arts and Crafts Movement. He designed stained-glass windows, furniture, embroidery, and w ...
complained about having any sort of artillery gun on the monument, while
Lord Curzon George Nathaniel Curzon, 1st Marquess Curzon of Kedleston, (11 January 1859 – 20 March 1925), styled Lord Curzon of Kedleston between 1898 and 1911 and then Earl Curzon of Kedleston between 1911 and 1921, was a British Conservative statesman ...
was quoted as describing the howitzer as "a toad squatting, which is about to spit fire out of its mouth...nothing more hideous could ever be conceived".Curl, p.81. Modernists such as
Roger Fry Roger Eliot Fry (14 December 1866 – 9 September 1934) was an English painter and critic, and a member of the Bloomsbury Group. Establishing his reputation as a scholar of the Old Masters, he became an advocate of more recent developme ...
criticised the conventional, secure structure that underpins the memorial. Editorials in ''The Times'' and ''
The Builder ''Building'' is one of the United Kingdom's oldest business-to-business magazines, launched as ''The Builder'' in 1843 by Joseph Aloysius Hansom – architect of Birmingham Town Hall and designer of the Hansom Cab. The journal was renamed ''Bu ...
'' both likened the howitzer to a children's toy, complaining that the gun did not lend itself to recreation in art. ''The Builder'' was sharply critical of the close relationship between the sculptor and the client, which it viewed as the root cause, believing that Jagger had given the artillerymen far too much influence over artistic matters. Other opinions were more positive. ''
The Manchester Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...
'' noted that the frankness of the portrayal was a "terrible revelation long overdue", and hoped that veterans would be able to show the monument to their wives and children as a way of explaining the events of the war.Black (2004a), p.142. Ex-servicemen were quoted by the newspaper as reminiscing about the war as they examined the statue, and remarking on how the bronze figures had captured the reality of their time in the artillery. ''
The Illustrated London News ''The Illustrated London News'' appeared first on Saturday 14 May 1842, as the world's first illustrated weekly news magazine. Founded by Herbert Ingram, it appeared weekly until 1971, then less frequently thereafter, and ceased publication i ...
'' reported how, two days after the official ceremony, a crowd had gathered in the rain just before dawn to conduct a small ceremony at the memorial; the newspaper felt that this said more about the quality of the memorial than the more negative writings of art critics. These voices eventually held sway, and the memorial came to be popularly termed "the special Cenotaph of the Gunners",
Lord Edward Gleichen Major-General Lord Albert Edward Wilfred Gleichen (15 January 1863 – 14 December 1937) was a British courtier and soldier. Early life and family history Born as Count Albert Edward Wilfred von Gleichen, he was the only son of Prince Victo ...
praising it in 1928 as "a strikingly imaginative and most worthy representation". By the 1930s, it was one of the best-known monuments in Europe. The memorial's reputation diminished in the
post-war period In Western usage, the phrase post-war era (or postwar era) usually refers to the time since the end of World War II. More broadly, a post-war period (or postwar period) is the interval immediately following the end of a war. A post-war period c ...
. The art critic
Geoffrey Grigson Geoffrey Edward Harvey Grigson (2 March 1905 – 25 November 1985) was a British poet, writer, editor, critic, exhibition curator, anthologist and naturalist. In the 1930s he was editor of the influential magazine ''New Verse'', and went on to p ...
echoed Lord Curzon's comments, complaining in 1980 that it was a "squat toad of foolish stone". A renewed focus on Jagger's works, including the Royal Artillery memorial, in the 1980s led to a fresh reappraisal of the piece; the most recent critical work on the memorial has described it as a "work of the highest quality and distinction". Alan Borg, an art historian and Director of the Imperial War Museum, described the work in 1991 as "undoubtedly" Jagger's masterpiece, noting the quality of the sculptural work which makes it "one of the outstanding examples of 20th-century British art" and "perhaps the only war memorial" to be recognised as intrinsically important in its own right. The memorial enjoyed a still higher profile in the 21st century. The architectural historian
Gavin Stamp Gavin Mark Stamp (15 March 194830 December 2017) was a British writer, television presenter and architectural historian. Education Stamp was educated at Dulwich College in South London from 1959 to 1967 as part of the "Dulwich Experiment", then a ...
compared its quality to the memorials of the
Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations m ...
, and in 2004, the art critic Brian Sewell pronounced the Royal Artillery Memorial "the greatest sculpture of the twentieth century".
Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...
, in the memorial's entry on the
National Heritage List for England The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...
, remarks that the memorial "is now internationally recognised as one of the finest memorials to have been erected anywhere after the First World War. Its combination of sculptural force, boldness of conception, vivid narrative and humanity makes the memorial pre-eminent", and notes that "the inclusion of an over-life size corpse was boldly direct and is without parallel on any major British memorial". The Pevsner Architectural Guide for the area praises the detail in Jagger's sculptures, especially the corpse, and notes that the memorial is "now recognised as a masterpiece of British 20th century sculpture".Bradley and Pevsner, pp.658–659.


Later history

The unveiling was originally scheduled for 28 June 1925 but early in 1925 Jagger's most capable assistant resigned, leaving Jagger to complete the work alone. He advised the RAWCF that it could not be completed in time without sacrificing quality. The memorial was eventually unveiled four months late on 18 October 1925 by Prince Arthur and the Reverend Alfred Jarvis, Chaplain-General to the Forces.Ward-Jackson, p.100. Despite the delay, the RAWCF and Jagger parted on very good terms, the committee exceptionally pleased with the final memorial.Curl, p.98. Such was the toll on Jagger that after its unveiling he suspended work on all his other projects for six months to recuperate.Bowdler and Brindle, p.32. Although at first the memorial met conflicting opinions, it further bolstered Jagger's professional reputation. He was awarded the
Royal British Society of Sculptors The Royal Society of Sculptors is a British charity established in 1905 which promotes excellence in the art and practice of sculpture. Its headquarters are a centre for contemporary sculpture on Old Brompton Road, South Kensington, London. It ...
' gold medal in 1926 and was admitted as an associate of the society later that year. A set of bronze tablets was added to the south of the memorial in 1949, lying on a flat plinth which replaced a set of steps. Designed by Darcy Braddel, the addition commemorates 29,924 Royal Artillerymen who were killed in the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...
. They were unveiled by Princess Elizabeth (later Queen Elizabeth II). Over the years, pollution and water penetration caused damage to the bronzes and stonework.
English Heritage English Heritage (officially the English Heritage Trust) is a charity that manages over 400 historic monuments, buildings and places. These include prehistoric sites, medieval castles, Roman forts and country houses. The charity states that i ...
conducted a major restoration of the memorial during 2011, completed in time for
Armistice Day Armistice Day, later known as Remembrance Day in the Commonwealth and Veterans Day in the United States, is commemorated every year on 11 November to mark the armistice signed between the Allies of World War I and Germany at Compiègne, Fran ...
. In 1970 the memorial was designated a Grade II*
listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...
, and in July 2014 it was one of five memorials in London to be upgraded to Grade I status to mark the centenary of the First World War. Listed building status provides legal protection from demolition or modification. Grade II* is applied to "particularly important buildings of more than special interest" and applied to about 5.5 per cent of listed buildings; Grade I is reserved for structures of "the greatest historic interest", and applies to around 2.5 per cent of listed buildings. The list entry notes its group value with the multiple other monuments on the Hyde Park Corner island (many of which are also listed), including the Wellington Arch and the multiple other war memorials.


See also

*
Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster There are over 9,000 Grade I listed buildings in England. This page is a list of these buildings in the City of Westminster The City of Westminster is a city and borough in Inner London. It is the site of the United Kingdom's Houses of P ...
* Grade I listed war memorials in England * List of public art in Hyde Park, London § Hyde Park Corner, other monuments in the vicinity


References


Bibliography

*Abousnnouga, Gill and Machin, David. (2008) "Defence Discourse I: the Visual Institutionalization of Discourses in War Monuments", in Mayr (ed) (2008). *Abousnnouga, Gill and Machin, David. (2013) ''The Language of War Monuments''. London: Bloomsbury Academic. . *Archer, Geoff. (2009) ''The Glorious Dead: Figurative Sculpture of British First World War Memorials''. Kirstead, Norfolk: Frontier Publishing. . *Bailey, Jonathan B. A. (2004) ''Field Artillery and Firepower''. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. . *Black, Jonathan. (2004a) "Thanks for the Memory: War Memorials, Spectatorship and the Trajectories of Commemoration 1919–2001", in Saunders (ed) (2004). *Black, Jonathan. (2004b) "'Who Dies if England Live?' Masculinity, the Problematics and the Image of the Ordinary Soldier in British War Art, c.1915–1928", in Caunce, Mazierska, Sydney-Smith and Walton (eds) (2004). *Boorman, Derek. (2005) ''A Century of Remembrance: One Hundred Outstanding British War Memorials''. Barnsley: Pen and Sword Books . * Borg, Alan. (1991) ''War Memorials: From Antiquity to the Present''. London: Leo Cooper . *Bowdler, Roger H and Brindle, Steven P. (2015) ''Wellington Arch, Marble Arch and Six Great War Memorials''. (English Heritage Guidebooks) London: English Heritage . *Bradley, Simon and Pevsner, Nikolaus. (2003) ''London 6: Westminster''. (
The Buildings of England ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the ...
) New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University Press . *Caunce, Steven, Ewa Mazierska, Susan Sydney-Smith and John K. Walton (eds) (2004)
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'. Manchester: Manchester University Press. . *Carden-Coyne, Ana. (2009)
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'. Cranbury, New Jersey: Associated University Presses. . *Compton, Ann. (ed) (1985a)
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'. London: Imperial War Museum. . *Compton, Ann. (1985b) "A Sculptural Biography," in Compton (ed) (1985a). *Cooper, Charles Samuel. (1928) ''The Outdoor Monuments of London: Statues, Memorial Buildings, Tablets and War Memorials''. London: The Homeland Association . *Corke, Jim. (2005) ''War Memorials in Britain''. Oxford: Shire Publications . *Curl, James Stevens. (1985) "The Royal Artillery Memorial at Hyde Park Corner", in Compton (ed) (1985a). *Dyer, Geoff. (2009)
The Missing of the Somme
'. London: Phoenix . *Glaves-Smith, John. (1985) "Realism and Propaganda in the Work of Charles Sargeant Jagger and their Relationship to Artistic Tradition", in Compton (ed) (1985a). *King, Alex. (1998) ''Memorials of the Great War In Britain: The Symbolism and Politics of Remembrance'' Oxford: Berg Publishers . *Matthews, Peter. (2012) ''London's Statues and Monuments''. Oxford: Shire Library . *Mayr, Andrea. (ed) (2008)
Language and Power: An Introduction to Institutional Discourse
'. London: Continuum. . *Miles, Malcolm. (2004)
Urban Avant-Gardes: Art, Architecture and Change
'. Abingdon: Routledge. . *Quinlan, Mark. (2005) ''British War Memorials''. Hereford: Authors Online . *Saunders, Nicholas J. (ed) (2004)
Matters of Conflict: Material Culture, Memory and the First World War
'. Abingdon: Routledge. . *Skelton, Tim and Gliddon, Gerald. (2009)
Lutyens and the Great War
'. London: Frances Lincoln . *Stephenson, Andrew P. "Palimpsestic Promenades: Memorial Environments and the Consumption of Space in Post-1918 London", in Codell (ed) (2008). *Ward-Jackson, Philip. (2011) ''Public Sculpture of Historic Westminster: Volume 1''. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press . *Windrow, Martin. (2008) ''Osprey Men-at-Arms: A Celebration''. Botley: Osprey Publishing. . {{featured article 1925 sculptures British military memorials and cemeteries Bronze sculptures in the United Kingdom Buildings and structures completed in 1925 Buildings and structures in Hyde Park, London Grade I listed buildings in the City of Westminster Grade I listed monuments and memorials Military memorials in London Outdoor sculptures in London Royal Artillery Sculptures by Charles Sargeant Jagger Sculptures of men in the United Kingdom Grade I listed statues in the City of Westminster Stone sculptures in the United Kingdom Tourist attractions in the City of Westminster World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England