Royal Artillery Memorial of the South African War

A regimental war memorial of 1906-10. The pedestal and concave screen wall were designed by Sir Aston Webb and the sculptural elements by William Colton ARA.

MATERIALS & PLAN: a granite plinth, supporting the Portland stone memorial, with bronze sculpture and relief panels. The monument faces north onto The Mall and has a crescent-shaped screen wall to its south side. Steps lead up to a platform and a square pedestal stands to the north of the wall, topped by a bronze sculptural group.

The memorial is set in St James’s Park, to the south side of The Mall and facing north towards Waterloo Place and in line with the Duke of York Column (Grade I) and the Statue of King Edward VII (Grade II). The north front has a shaped plinth projecting towards the pedestrian pavement approached by five steps. To the rear of the monument is a wall of plain Portland stone blocks, topped by a moulded cornice, and with a series of horizontal bronze plaques forming a frieze. These bear the following wording in relief: ‘ERECTED BY THE OFFICERS AND MEN OF THE ROYAL ARTILLERY IN MEMORY OF THEIR HONOURED DEAD. SOUTH AFRICA. 1899-1902’. Terminating the wall at either side are stone piers with domed tops and segmental pediments, which have the initials 'E' and 'R' in bronze, surrounded by wreaths. Their north sides bear bronze plaques showing scenes of war in high relief; soldiers of the regiment transporting their arms over hilly terrain, at right, and the Royal Artillery Corps in action, to the left. To their flanks are further bronze plaques with the names of the fallen in relief. At the centre of the raised plinth is a square pedestal with chamfered corners. This has a deeply moulded entablature, the frieze of which represents gun carriages and horses at the gallop in high relief. Above the projecting plinth is a further band of bronze relief which shows the regimental mottos: ‘UBIQUE’ (Everywhere) at the centre, north side and ‘QUO. FAS / ET / GLORIA / DUCUNT ‘ (Where Right and Glory lead) to either flank. To the top of the pedestal is a sculpted bronze group, showing the winged figure of Fame controlling a horse (representative of War) by its bridle. The curved rear wall is blank, save for the projecting plinth and cornice.

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.