60th Rifles Memorial to Indian Mutiny

Summary

War memorial in Classical style, erected in August 1861 by the First Battalion of the Royal Rifles to commemorate their fallen comrades of the Indian campaigns of 1857, 1858 and 1859.

Reasons for Designation

The 60th Rifles Memorial, a granite monument with bronze decorations erected by the First Battalion of he 60th Royal Rifles in August 1861 to commemorate their comrades who fell during the Indian Campaigns of 1857, 1858 and 1859, is listed for the following principal reasons:
* Architectural interest: a handsome Classical style tapering granite pier with good quality bronze decoration and lettering;
* Historic interest: link with international events and focus for grief and remembrance by a particular regiment;
* Intactness: unaltered except for a slight chipping at the top caused by a seaplane raid in January 1916 and the loss of the boundary railings, probably requisitioned for the war effort in 1941;
* Rarity of type: the War Memorial Archive includes only four other examples of free-standing Indian Mutiny group monuments in England;
* Early date for building type: 1861 is an early date for an outdoor war memorial, in England. Perhaps eleven outdoor Crimean war memorials and one Indian Mutiny war memorial have an earlier date.

History

This memorial was erected by the First Battalion of the 60th Royal Rifles in August 1861 in memory of comrades who fell during the Indian Campaigns of 1857 (Oudh), 1858 (Delhi) and 1859 (Rohilkhand). This regiment was the first to be equipped with the more accurate breech-loading Enfield rifle which entailed the biting of a greased rifle cartridge to release the powder. The native troops or sepoys feared the grease was made with either cow fat, sacred to the Hindus, or pig fat, considered unclean by the Muslims, and this was a catalyst to the Indian Mutiny. The battalion returned from India to Dover in 1860.

The memorial was chipped by bomb damage during the first moonlight seaplane raid on Dover on 23 January 1916. The cast iron boundary railings were probably lost as a result of the Government's 1941 order to requisition all post-1850 iron gates and railings for the war effort.

Details

MATERIALS: granite, with bronze decoration.

DESCRIPTION: tapering square granite pier with deep moulded plinth and base. The moulded cornice is surmounted by a pyramidal cap. Below the cornice are bronze swags on which are hung medals of previous battle honours. The front face additionally has a bronze trophy with a lion's head mask. Below this is the inscription 'IN MEMORY OF COMRADES WHO FELL DURING THE INDIAN CAMPAIGNS OF 1857, 1858 AND 1859. ERECTED BY THE 1ST BATTALION OF ROYAL RIFLES AUGUST 1861'. The battle honours are inscribed on the sides and rear: OUDE (sic), DELHI and ROHILCUND (SIC). The regimental motto 'CELER ET AUDAX' is inscribed on the rear face.

The memorial is set on two square steps with rusticated tops enclosed within a low circular wall which originally incorporated iron railings.


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, 30 November 2016.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 30 November 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/16451
War Memorials Online, accessed 30 November 2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/107470

End of official list entry

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