Memorial to 'The Home of Aviation'

Memorial to 'The Home of Aviation'

This Grade II* memorial monument stands at the junction of High Street and Church Road in Eastchurch, on the west side of Church Road opposite the Grade I-listed Church of All Saints. Unveiled in 1955, it was designed by Sidney Loweth and sculpted by Hilary Stratton.

The memorial takes the form of a curved wall built in Portland stone ashlar facing east, with flanking walls of Kentish ragstone supporting built-in wooden seating with Portland stone bench ends. The structure fronts onto a cobbled pavement, with a Portland stone kerb marking an area paved in blue glass setts where floral tributes can be placed.

The central section comprises a plinth supporting a bust of Zeus holding a sceptre and lightning bolt against a backdrop of clouds. The southern flanking wall is simply coped at one height and terminates in an end pier supporting a ball finial in the form of a globe surrounded by navigation instruments. The pier ends in a pilaster topped with a relief-carved aircraft wheel and bears the sculptor's signature. Along this wall are eight early aircraft carved in relief and named with dates: an Avro Triplane, Cody 1, De Havilland No 1 biplane, Howard Wright 1909 biplane, Dunne D.5 experimental biplane, Bristol Aeroplane of 1911, Handley Page Type E monoplane, and Sopwith-Wright biplane.

The central plinth comprises three vertical sections, with the middle projecting forward. Its principal inscription records that the memorial commemorates the first home of British aviation in 1909 near this spot at Leysdown Eastchurch, where flights and experiments were made by members of the Aero Club (later Royal) of Great Britain, and where Short Brothers established the first aircraft factory in Great Britain in 1909 and the first Royal Naval Air Service Station was formed. A relief-carved Short Flying Boat image appears below this text. The left-hand section lists aviators including J.T.C. Moore Brabazon, the Hon Charles Rolls, Frank K. McClean, and others. The right-hand section lists designers and constructors including Horace, Eustace, and Oswald Short, and members of the Royal Naval Air Service.

The southern wall carries an inscription recording that Frank McClean (later Sir Francis McClean) leased Stonepitts Farm to the Aero Club for nominal rent in 1909 and provided aeroplanes free of charge for the first naval officers to be instructed in aviation in 1911.

The northern flanking wall is stepped, raking down to the north, and terminates in an end pier supporting a finial in the form of an aviator's bust fully dressed in flying gear including breathing apparatus. This pier also ends in a pilaster topped with a relief-carved aircraft wheel. Seven early aircraft are carved in relief along this wall: a Short biplane, Short seaplane, Short Twin, Short S38, Short S27, Short No2 (built for Moore Brabazon), and Short No1 (built for McClean). An inscription at the northern end records the first controlled aeroplane flight in Great Britain by a British subject on 2nd May 1909 and the first circular flight of one mile in a British aeroplane designed and constructed by Short Bros on 30th October 1909, both accomplished by J.T.C. Moore Brabazon (later Lord Brabazon of Tara).

The materials comprise brick, Portland stone ashlar, Kentish ragstone, timber seating, flint cobbles, and glass setts.