Statue Known As Ghost Or Descent From the Cross Immediately to the South of Campion House (Formerly Thornbury House)
STATUE KNOWN AS GHOST OR DESCENT FROM THE CROSS IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF CAMPION HOUSE (FORMERLY THORNBURY HOUSE), THORNBURY ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1390552
- Date first listed:
- 06-Aug-2003
- List Entry Name:
- Statue Known As Ghost Or Descent From the Cross Immediately to the South of Campion House (Formerly Thornbury House)
- Statutory Address:
- STATUE KNOWN AS GHOST OR DESCENT FROM THE CROSS IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF CAMPION HOUSE (FORMERLY THORNBURY HOUSE), THORNBURY ROAD
Have you got a photo to share?
Join the Missing Pieces Project. We want you to share your photos and memories.
Location
Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.
Use of this mapping is subject to terms and conditions .
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.
What is the National Heritage List for England?
The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.
The list includes:
 |
Buildings |
 |
Scheduled monuments |
 |
Parks and gardens |
 |
Battlefields |
 |
Shipwrecks |
Local Heritage Hub
Unlock and explore hidden histories, aerial photography, and listed buildings and places for every county, district, city and major town across England.
Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1390552
- Date first listed:
- 06-Aug-2003
- List Entry Name:
- Statue Known As Ghost Or Descent From the Cross Immediately to the South of Campion House (Formerly Thornbury House)
- Statutory Address 1:
- STATUE KNOWN AS GHOST OR DESCENT FROM THE CROSS IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF CAMPION HOUSE (FORMERLY THORNBURY HOUSE), THORNBURY ROAD
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:
- STATUE KNOWN AS GHOST OR DESCENT FROM THE CROSS IMMEDIATELY TO THE SOUTH OF CAMPION HOUSE (FORMERLY THORNBURY HOUSE), THORNBURY ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Greater London Authority
- District:
- Hounslow (London Borough)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TQ 14880 77000
Details
787/0/10185 THORNBURY ROAD 06-AUG-03 Osterley Statue known as Ghost or Descent from the Cross immediately to the south of Campion House (formerly Thornbury House)
II Group of figures, known as Ghosts or Descent from the Cross, by Andrew O'Connor (1874-1941). First exhibited 1937. Portland stone. Three sinuous sculpted figures emerging from a block of rough limestone. Central figure of Christ, supported by flanking mourners, one male one female. The piece shows the strong influence of Rodin, friend and mentor of the artist, whom he met in Paris after 1905.
HISTORY: this large-scale religious work was lent by the artist (whose studio was at 50a Glebe Place, Chelsea) to the Tate Gallery for the opening of its Duveen Sculpture gallery in 1937. In 1940, O'Connor requested its return to Ireland, but it was already in store. In 1950 the Tate contacted the Irish authorities. Hector O'Connor, son of the artist, negotiated through Father M.C.D'Arcy for the piece to be presented to the Jesuit community at Campion House. On 11 November 1953 it left the Tate, presumably for Osterley. Andrew O'Connor, an American artist of Irish and Scottish descent, was born in Worcester, Mass. He studied first under his sculptor father, and from 1894 in London, under John Singer Sargent whose sculptural work for Boston Public Library included a crucifixion group comparable to this piece. By 1905 he was living in Paris, where he met Rodin who strongly influenced his work. Many examples of public sculpture survive in the U.S.A. These include a bas-relief for mural of Boston Library (1894-7); Vanderbilt Memorial bronze doors, tympanum and frieze, church of St.Bartholomew', New York (1897 - 1902); equestrian figure of General Lafayette, Baltimore (1924); bust of Lincoln, Royal Exchange, London; Triple Cross, Dun Laoghaire Ireland, (from 1931). The sculpture possesses considerable interest as a late instance of fine figurative religious art. Its outdoor position is leading to its deterioration in terms of condition.
SOURCES: Tate Gallery archives; T.Snoddy, Dictionary of Irish Artists, Dublin, 1996, p355-358; P. Ward-Jackson, Public Sculpture of the City of London, Liverpool University Press, 2003.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 490479
- Legacy System:
- LBS
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 06-Jun-2026 at 14:58:30.
Download a full scale map (PDF)End of official list entry
All text content is available under the Open Government Licence v3.0 , except where otherwise stated. Any supplied maps are © Crown Copyright [and database rights] 2026 OS AC0000815036 and may not be reproduced without permission.