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Royal Artillery Memorial

1925 sculpturesBritish military memorials and cemeteriesBronze sculptures in the United KingdomBuildings and structures completed in 1925Buildings and structures in Hyde Park, London
EngvarB from September 2013Grade I listed buildings in the City of WestminsterGrade I listed monuments and memorialsGrade I listed statues in the City of WestminsterMilitary memorials in LondonOutdoor sculptures in LondonRoyal ArtillerySculptures by Charles Sargeant JaggerSculptures of men in the United KingdomStone sculptures in the United KingdomTourist attractions in the City of WestminsterWorld War II memorials in EnglandWorld War I memorials in England
Royal Artillery Monument corner view
Royal Artillery Monument corner view

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. The memorial consists of a Portland stone cruciform 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 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, 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. It underwent restoration in 2011 after years of weathering and water ingress. The memorial is a Grade I listed building and is managed by English Heritage; it now shares its site with multiple other military monuments and war memorials.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Royal Artillery Memorial (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Royal Artillery Memorial
Apsley Way, London Belgravia

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N 51.5025 ° E -0.151944 °
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Royal Artillery Memorial

Apsley Way
W1J 7NT London, Belgravia
England, United Kingdom
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Royal Artillery Monument corner view
Royal Artillery Monument corner view
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Queen Elizabeth Gate
Queen Elizabeth Gate

Queen Elizabeth Gate, also known as the Queen Mother's Gate, is an entrance consisting of two pairs and two single gates of forged stainless steel and bronze situated in Hyde Park, London, behind Apsley House at Hyde Park Corner. There is also a centre feature made of painted cast iron. It was opened by Queen Elizabeth II in 1993 to celebrate the 90th birthday of her mother, Queen Elizabeth The Queen Mother. It cost £1.5 million to construct, raised by private individuals and public funding, under the patronage of Prince Michael of Kent.The stainless steel and bronze gates, railings and lights were designed and made by Giusseppe Lund. The centre piece, featuring a red lion (England) and a white unicorn (Scotland), was designed by sculptor David Wynne. The organic nature of the forged steel reflects the Queen Mother's love of flowers, particularly those from a cottage garden. Her life spanned most of the century and this is represented by a flow from formal symmetry at the base of the gates upwards to an increasing freedom of line at the top. Many of the elements are free to move when touched and the whole structure vibrates when moved. This is in direct contrast to the heavier rectilinear gates found in other entrances to the park. Although much admired, it was described as "hideous" by architect Zaha Hadid. Another architect, Richard Rogers, described it as "romantic candyfloss", and Viscount Linley, a grandson of the Queen Mother's, was reported as saying that he "absolutely loathed" the work. The then arts minister, Lord St John of Fawsley, said they were "full of joy, strength and courage, like the personage in whose honour they have been created".There were also initial concerns that the metal was rusting due to a misunderstanding of the nature of the gate's colouring which was in fact a deliberate creation of chromium oxides with the application of heat. This treatment has since proved to be extremely durable thanks to the initial intensifying of the chromium content on the surface by the use of electro-polishing