PARLIAMENTARYBERTRAM MACKENNAL’S

WAR MEMORIAL

The Parliamentary War Memorial is one of a number of war memorials in Parliament. It commemorates Members of both Houses of Parliament who died in the First World War. Designed by the Australian sculptor Bertram Mackennal and unveiled in 1922, the memorial stands in St Stephen's Porch at the south end of Westminster Hall.

The memorial is dedicated to 145 individuals who ‘consummated with their lives the tradition of public service in the cause of Right & Liberty’. Its eight stone panels list 22 MPs and 20 Peers, as well as 9 senior staff members known as ‘Officers’ of both Houses, and 94 sons of Members and Officers of the House of Commons.

The winged figure carved in stone at the centre of the memorial represents a Recording Angel, who in Abrahamic religions are said to record every person’s deeds. Two gilt-bronze statuettes symbolise the virtues of Faith and Fortitude.

However, the Parliamentary War Memorial has not always appeared as it does today. This booklet explores its turbulent history, during which politics, changing artistic concerns and both world wars all left their mark.

INTRODUCTION

FRONT COVER

The Parliamentary War Memorialstone and gilt-bronze by Sir (Edgar) Bertram Mackennal, 1921/22 (with later alterations)PARLIAMENTARY ART COLLECTION, WOA S220

OPPOSITE PAGE

Houses of Parliament, The Memorialpen, pencil and watercolour on paper by Charles Terry Pledge, c.1921THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WORK/29/3364 (DETAIL)

A MEMORIALTO MEMBERS

Plans for the Parliamentary War Memorial began over a year before the war itself ended when, in July 1917, a Joint Committee resolved to erect a memorial ‘to honour the memory of those of our colleagues who had laid down their lives for their country’.

Proposals were invited from prominent Gothic Revival architect Walter Tapper, and leading sculptors George Frampton and Bertram Mackennal. The Committee described the three resulting designs as ‘beautiful’ and ‘eminently suitable’, but eventually Mackennal’s emerged as the winner.

Bertram Mackennal (1863–1931) was one of the most successful sculptors of his generation. Though little known today, his skill and versatility placed him in high demand for important public projects such as the Parliamentary War Memorial.

When installed in early 1921 the memorial consisted of what today forms only the central section of the structure – the Recording Angel, two panels inscribed with the names of the MPs, Peers and Officers of both Houses who died in the war, and the figures of Faith and Fortitude.

In addition, a cupola in the shape of a Gothic arch surmounted the memorial. The cupola included bronze statuettes of the patron saints of England, Scotland, Ireland and Wales. Saints Andrew, Patrick and David stood in three niches, while St George formed the cupola’s pinnacle.

1 ‘Westminster Hall and St Stephen’s Porch’ILLUSTRATED LONDON NEWS, 12 February 1853Charles Barry designed St Stephen’s Porch to connect Westminster Hall to his new Houses of Parliament. It is shown here shortly after its completion in the 1850s. The carved stone screen beneath the great window was later chosen as the location for the Parliamentary War Memorial.PARLIAMENTARY ART COLLECTION, WOA 5275 (DETAIL)

2 Blueprint for the Parliamentary War Memorialby unknown artist, c.1920PARLIAMENTARY ARCHIVES, PWO/20/67 (DETAIL)

3 Installation: The Memorial Panels photograph by unknown artist, 1921PARLIAMENTARY ESTATES DIRECTORATE ARCHIVE, IMG124

4 Installation: The Recording Angelphotograph by unknown artist, 1921PARLIAMENTARY ESTATES DIRECTORATE ARCHIVE, IMG125

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Soon after the memorial’s completion problems with the lists of names were discovered. These included errors in the list of Peers, while the two Officers of the House of Lords killed in the war had been left off altogether.

To further complicate matters the Lords were planning to erect their own memorial in the Royal Gallery. This was to include Peers’ sons killed in the war, highlighting the fact that similar provision had not been made elsewhere for the sons of MPs.

To address these and other issues the Committee decided to amend and extend the Parliamentary War Memorial. Bertram Mackennal expressed his ‘regret’ that it was felt necessary, but nevertheless agreed to supervise the alterations.

Six new panels were added to the memorial. These were inscribed with the names of the Officers of the House of Lords and others who had initially been omitted, as well as those of the sons of MPs and Officers of the House of Commons killed in the war.

The Prince of Wales (later King Edward VIII) unveiled the newly extended memorial in November 1922. Praising Mackennal’s work as a ‘perpetual memorial of our country’s greatest crisis’, he dedicated it to the ‘lasting memory and undying fame’ of ‘those valiant hearts’ it commemorated.

THE POLITICS OF REMEMBRANCE

1 Houses of Parliament, The Memorialpen, pencil and watercolour on paper by Charles Terry Pledge, c.1921To extend the memorial the central mullion of each remaining panel of the Victorian screen was removed and the prominent decoration cut away. Inscribed stone slabs were then inserted. THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WORK/29/3364

2 The Dedication Ceremonyphotograph by unknown artist, 1922Among those present at the unveiling were Prime Minister Andrew Bonar Law and former Prime Ministers David Lloyd George and HH Asquith, whose son is named on the memorial. The choir of nearby St Margaret’s Church sang hymns during the dedication ceremony.THE NATIONAL ARCHIVES, WORK11/236 2

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1 Bomb Damage: Old Palace Yardphotograph by unknown artist, 1940The bomb left a crater in Old Palace Yard and reportedly lifted the statue of Richard the Lionheart from its pedestal, bending the sword and damaging the horse’s rear legs in the process.PARLIAMENTARY ESTATES DIRECTORATE ARCHIVE

In the early hours of 27 September 1940 the Parliamentary War Memorial itself became a casualty of war. At 12.10am a high explosive enemy bomb fell in Old Palace Yard. The explosion blew a huge hole in the great window of St Stephen’s Porch, sending masonry from the window’s tracery raining down on the memorial.

The damage was significant. The Recording Angel was decapitated and the cupola – with its statues of Saints George, Patrick, Andrew and David – was knocked from the memorial. So too were some of the panels, revealing parts of the original Victorian decoration not seen for twenty years.

Although no fatalities were reported, the explosion resulted in several injuries and shattered most of the windows in the House of Lords. It was just one of fourteen occasions that the Houses of Parliament were damaged by air raids during the Second World War.

For the rest of the war the memorial, the great window and the entire south wall of St Stephen’s Porch were shored up and made safe. The detached parts of the memorial were placed into storage, waiting for peace to provide the possibility of reconstruction.

A CASUALTY OF WAR

3 Bomb Damage: The Cupolaphotograph by unknown artist, 1940The four saint statuettes appear to have survived the bombing practically unscathed, though the same could not be said for the cupola that formerly housed them. From left to right stand St Andrew, St Patrick, St David and St George.PARLIAMENTARY ESTATES DIRECTORATE ARCHIVE, IMG193

2 Bomb Damage: The Recording Angelphotograph by unknown artist, 1940The Recording Angel’s feet were broken off as a result of the bomb, which also exposed the chisel marks made by the masons during the memorial’s installation.PARLIAMENTARY ARCHIVES, PWO/20/67

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2 The Parliamentary War Memorialstone and gilt-bronze by Sir (Edgar) Bertram Mackennal, 1921/22 (with later alterations)The final step in achieving the memorial’s present appearance came in 1957 when the bronze figures of Faith and Fortitude were gilded. This was to make them stand out against John Ninian Comper’s (1864–1960) Parliamentary War Memorial Window completed in 1952.PARLIAMENTARY ART COLLECTION, WOA S220

1 Reconstructing the Memorialphotograph by unknown artist, c.1952PARLIAMENTARY ARCHIVES, PWO/20/67

After the war a new Joint War Memorial Committee was established to commemorate Parliament’s Second World War dead. Initially they hoped to achieve this by extensively modifying the Parliamentary War Memorial, but this plan was abandoned.

To create a Second World War memorial the Committee focused instead on commissioning a stained glass memorial window to replace the one destroyed in 1940. However, the restoration of Mackennal’s memorial proved to be less straightforward, especially once they realised that the detached cupola would obscure part of the new window if reinstated.

Some Committee members also felt that the Recording Angel should be left in its damaged state as a reminder of the destruction caused during the Second World War. Others believed that it was ‘not in keeping with the severity of Westminster Hall’ and should be removed altogether.

In the end the Committee concluded that the cupola should not be rebuilt. They argued that, as well as obscuring the memorial window, it would be ‘artistically undesirable’. However, they did decide to restore the Recording Angel to its former glory. The damaged panels were also reinstated, though they were left to show what the Committee termed their ‘scars of war’.

THE ‘SCARS OF WAR’

3 Saint Andrewbronze by Sir (Edgar) Bertram Mackennal, 1921This figure of St Andrew formerly stood in the central niche of the cupola that surmounted the Parliamentary War Memorial. Today it is part of the Parliamentary Art Collection. The Ministry of Works removed the statuettes of Saints George, Patrick and David. Their current location is unknown.PARLIAMENTARY ART COLLECTION, WOA S303

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This booklet was prepared by the Palace of Westminster Curator’s Office. Unless otherwise stated images are covered by © Parliamentary copyright, June 2014

Find out more about those commemorated on Parliament’s war memorials by visiting

www.parliament.uk/memorials

Discover more about Parliament’s First World War centenary commemorations at

www.parliament.uk/ww1

Parliament is collaborating with the Imperial War Museum as part of their Lives of the First World War project. Learn more at

www.livesofthefirstworldwar.org

The Parliamentary Art Collection is owned jointly by the House of Commons and the House of Lords. Explore the Collection online at

www.parliament.uk/art

The Parliamentary War Memorial photograph by Monger & Marchant Ltd, c.1922PARLIAMENTARY ARCHIVES, ARC/VAR/66 (DETAIL)