King's College School War Memorial

King's College School, Southside, Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4TT

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

War memorial, unveiled 1921, in the form of a bronze sculpture of a youth holding aloft a laurel wreath, standing atop a Grecian pedestal. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1445698
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-2017
List Entry Name:: King's College School War Memorial
Statutory Address:: King's College School, Southside, Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4TT

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1445698
Date first listed:: 03-Jul-2017
List Entry Name:: King's College School War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: King's College School, Southside, Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4TT

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

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.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: King's College School, Southside, Wimbledon Common, London, SW19 4TT

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Greater London Authority
District:: Merton (London Borough)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ2346570628

Summary

War memorial, unveiled 1921, in the form of a bronze sculpture of a youth holding aloft a laurel wreath, standing atop a Grecian pedestal.

Reasons for Designation

King's College School War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on King's College School, and the sacrifices it made in the First World War; * Design: as a well executed and expressive sculptured war memorial by Charles L Hartwell, standing atop an attractive Grecian pedestal; * Group value: with the adjacent Grade II-listed Great Hall range to King's College School.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at King's College School in Wimbledon in honour of the school's Fallen. It was unveiled on 14 October 1921 in a ceremony attended by Sir Cecil Hertslet, KBE, school governors, and the peers and families of the Fallen.

The bronze sculpture was designed by Charles L Hartwell, ARA and intends to express 'spring and the aspiration of youth toward immortality'. It was stolen twice in the 1960s; on the first occasion it was abandoned in a corner of the school grounds. It was then replaced and secured to the pedestal with a steel tube, but stolen again a few weeks later and never recovered. It was replaced in 2003 with a bronze-resin replica made by Ian Bishop Designs of Farnham, Surrey, paid for by the School and the Old King's Club; this was unveiled in re-dedication ceremony held on 7 November 2003 by Sarah Robbins-Cole, the school chaplain. The pedestal section was designed by Arthur Stratton, FRIBA, architect and former KCS pupil. The memorial was re-positioned at some point in the mid-2010s.

Details

Bronze sculpture of nude male youth, hands held aloft and looking upwards; in his left hand he holds a laurel wreath of Victory. This stands atop a cylindrical Grecian pedestal, the uppermost section forming an urn-like element decorated with dentils and acanthus leave carvings. Five panels on the pedestal bears the names of the Fallen in alphabetical order. At its base is a tablet with a laurel wreath in relief, above which is an inscription in Greek, which translates as: "Theirs is the prize of fair-garlanded death."

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 20 July 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Kernot, CF, British Public Schools War Memorials, (1927), 228
Lloyd, Flan, Potkin, Helen, Thackara, Davina, Public Sculpture of Outer South and West London, (2011), 190-91
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/197611
War Memorials Register, accessed 9 March 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/12465

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.