Designed by Edwin Lutyens Total commemorated 35749 | Opened December 1928 Unveiled 12 December 1928 | |
 | ||
Location near Trinity Square Garden, London, England Address Tower Hill, London EC3N 4DH, UK Hours Open today · Open 24 hoursMondayOpen 24 hoursTuesdayOpen 24 hoursWednesdayOpen 24 hoursThursdayOpen 24 hoursFridayOpen 24 hoursSaturdayOpen 24 hoursSundayOpen 24 hoursSuggest an edit Architects Edwin Lutyens, Edward Maufe Similar Tower Hill, Earl Haig Memorial, Chindit Memorial, Bromley War Memorial, Royal Naval Division | ||
Tower hill memorial london uk
The Tower Hill Memorial is a Commonwealth War Graves Commission war memorial on the south side of Trinity Square Gardens, in London, England. The memorial commemorates those from the Merchant Navy and fishing fleets who died during both world wars and have "no grave but the sea". The memorial was designed by Edwin Lutyens with sculpture work by William Reid Dick, the Second World War extension was designed by Edward Maufe with sculpture work by Charles Wheeler.
Contents
The First World War memorial takes the form of a vaulted corridor, 21.5 metres (71 ft) long, 7 metres (23 ft) wide and 7 to 10 metres (23 to 33 ft) high. Inside are 12 bronze plaques engraved with 12,000 names. Those commemorated include Victoria Cross recipient, Archibald Bisset Smith.
The Second World War memorial takes the form of a semi-circular sunken garden located behind the corridor, to its north. It contains the names of 24,000 British seamen and 50 Australian seamen, listed on the walls of the sunken garden. In the centre of the garden is a pool of bronze, engraved with a compass pointing north. Between the two memorials are two columns with statues representing an officer (western column) and a seaman (eastern).
Not all Merchant Seamen who died during wartime, and have no known grave, are commemorated here – they may be commemorated elsewhere, for example, the Liverpool Naval Memorial.
The Mercantile Marine First World War Memorial was unveiled by Queen Mary on 12 December 1928 and the adjacent Second World War extension by Queen Elizabeth II on 5 November 1955.
Lutyens' First World War Memorial became a listed building in 1973, upgraded to Grade I status in October 2015. The adjacent Merchant Seamen's Memorial was separately given a Grade II* listing in 1998.