War Memorial

1900/64/36 LANCASTER GATE W2 02-JUL-03 War Memorial

GV II War Memorial. 1919-21 by Sir Walter Tapper. Portland stone. A tall octagonal shaft on a square pedestal base with a canopied head, surmounted with a gilt crucifix by Bainbridge Reynolds. On the pedestal, set within auricular cartouches, are the arms of England and France, the sacred monogram and the dates of the First World War. The canopied head contains statues of St George, St Louis, and the 'warrior saints' of Christendom: SS Maurice, Longinus, Victor, Adrian, Florian and Eustace. HISTORY: this war memorial was dedicated by the Bishop of Kensington at Easter 1921. Christchurch, Lancaster Gate (1854-55 by F & H Francis; now partly demolished) set up a war memorial committee in July 1918. £921 was spent on realising Tapper's design, the masonry of which was executed by Laurence Turner. Tapper (1861-1935) was a leading late Gothic Revival architect, responsible for the nearby Church of the Annunciation at Marble Arch. This is an unusual form for a war memorial, which possesses elegance and quality of execution. It was badly damaged in the 1987 Great Storm: following a considerable programme of restoration it was reconstructed on a slightly different site to the south of its original position and rededicated on Armistice Day 2002.

SOURCES: The Calendar (parish magazine), July - August 1919 and April 1921.

Listing NGR: TQ2638380760

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 10 February 2017.