The Edith Cavell Memorial

MATERIALS: Carrara marble statue, Cornish grey granite.

DESCRIPTION: nurse Cavell’s statue, clad in stylized nurse’s uniform as though facing her execution, stands on a two-stage plinth inscribed BRUSSELS DAWN OCTOBER 12th 1915: beneath, in smaller letters, is added PATRIOTISM IS NOT ENOUGH I MUST HAVE NO HATRED OR BITTERNESS TOWARDS ANYONE. Behind is a tall pylon, severe in detail, inscribed on each face, at frieze height, HUMANITY / SACRIFICE / DEVOTION / FORTITUDE. On the rear of the memorial is a relief of a lion, standing triumphant over a serpent: this symbolized the Britain’s overcoming envy, malice, spite and treachery. Below this is a hammer-beaten panel, showing the granite in its roughest state. The upper section is cruciform in shape, and comprises a sculptural group of a woman and infant, depicting Humanity: over the folds of her skirt is the Geneva cross. One source (Malvern, p.224) explained that the infant depicted the smaller nations of Belgium and Serbia, the protection of which had triggered the war. To the front of the upper shaft, between wreaths, is the inscription FOR KING AND COUNTRY. The monument stands on a three-stepped base with low square pyramid-capped posts to the corners.

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.