The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section
Trinity Square Gardens, Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4DH
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1031597
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-1998
- List Entry Name:
- The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section
- Statutory Address:
- Trinity Square Gardens, Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4DH
Location
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Images of England Project
- Date:
- 2006-10-31
- Reference:
- IOE01/15771/28
- Rights:
- © Miss Patricia Philpott. Source: Historic England Archive
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1031597
- Date first listed:
- 15-Apr-1998
- List Entry Name:
- The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section
- Statutory Address 1:
- Trinity Square Gardens, Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4DH
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Trinity Square Gardens, Trinity Square, London, EC3N 4DH
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Tower Hamlets (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ3349680752
Details
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 4 August 2025 to update the Address
TQ 3380
788/21/10071
TRINITY SQUARE, EC3
The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section
(Formerly listed as Merchant Seamen's Memorial)
GV
II*
Second World War memorial. 1952-55 to the designs of Edward Maufe for the Imperial War Graves Commission, as a complement to the adjoining First World War memorial by Lutyens unveiled in 1928 (already listed). The sculptor was Charles Wheeler.
Portland stone walls set with bronze panels recalling the names of those who have no grave but the sea. The 8ft walls set in a sunken garden, lined with bronze panels on their inner face and at spaced intervals set with seven stone sculptured allegorical figures representing the seven seas. At the centre of this garden, mainly lawn, is a 'pool' of bronze engraved as a Mariners' compass and set to magnetic north. Around its edge stone paviours and oak seats form part of the composition. Steps ascend to the earlier war memorial, between pylons carved with above life-size figures of an officer and seaman of the merchant service. Between these and the 1914-18 memorial a stone of remembrance on a stepped plinth. Dedicatory inscription to 'The Twenty-four Thousand of the Merchant Navy and Fishing Fleets whose names are honoured on the Walls of this Garden, gave their lives for their Country and have no grave but the sea'.
The Merchant Navy Memorial, Second World War section commemorates all merchant seafarers, men and women, who served in ships registered in ports of the British commonwealth or in ships on charter to these governments, who lost their lives as a result of enemy action and who have no known grave. 23,765 men are commemorated, including 80 pilots and lighthousemen and 832 fishermen. Its scale contrasted with that of the First World War memorial demonstrates the crucial role played by the Merchant Navy in 1939-45. Maufe was commissioned to produce a design that related to the earlier memorial and to the setting of Trinity House (listed in the City of London), and this was successfully achieved. The memorial was unveiled by Her Majesty the Queen on 5 November 1955.
Listing NGR: TQ3349680752
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, 17 February 2017.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 469109
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 17 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/12636
War Memorials Online, accessed 17 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/125358
Other
The Builder: 25 January 1952: p144
The Builder: 4 November 1955: 764
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 09-Jun-2026 at 22:48:51.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
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