The Cenotaph

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Reference WMO/122342

Address:

Whitehall

Westminster

London

SW1A 2ET

England

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War Memorials Trust case: War Memorials Trust needs to avoid Contributors changing location/description details as we help to protect and conserve this war memorial through our casework. You can still add photographs, update condition and use the tabs below. If you believe any of the information you cannot edit is wrong or information is missing, please make a note of the reference number and include it in your email when you contact us.

Status: On original site
Type: Freestanding
Location: External
Setting: Roadside
Description: Cenotaph
Materials:
  • Stone Portland stone
Lettering: Incised
Conflicts:
  • First World War (1914-1918)
About the memorial: The Cenotaph was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens. It is made of Portland Stone. He refused suggestions to add bronze figures of servicemen, wishing to portray a timeless abstract symbolism of emptiness. Other cenotaphs around the country preferred to add such figures. May-June 2013 conservation works being undertaken by English Heritage. See Links for more info. ------------------------------------------ Westminster Walk: The word “cenotaph” is derived from the Greek words “kenos” (empty) and “taphos” (tomb) to remember a person or group of people whose remains are elsewhere. It was a common form in the ancient world of Greece and Egypt. Initially this was a wood and plaster construction erected for the Allied Victory Parade in 1919 but the public demanded a more permanent memorial. So Sir Edwin Lutyens, a renowned architect, designed this simple looking but complex shaped monument. It was inspired by the French who used a “catafalque” or raised coffin for their parade. Lutyens was a theosophist (someone who believes they have insight of the nature of God) and one of his big concepts was that everything should be part of a circle representing the eternal cycle of birth, death & regeneration. Thus all the faces are part of radials vertical ones meeting 1000 feet (305M) above ground and horizontal ones 900 feet (274M) to the side.. He designed many memorials including the “Memorial to the missing of the Somme” at Thiepval. Each year it is the focus of Britain’s Remembrance Day Service as a focus for the dead of all wars. >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Route: Continue down Whitehall to find Women’s Cenotaph in middle of road. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
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The Glorious Dead

No names are recorded

Grade I (England)

1357354

Whitehall (City of Westminster)

Information Required

English Heritage