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The aim of this site is to document all the memorials in London. That's the plaques, monuments, statues, fountains, etc, that commemorate a person, an event, a building, etc. It's an aim we don't think we will ever achieve but we will enjoy the attempt. We have not tried to provide details of each of the people who are commemorated; the web provides copious information on most people worth knowing about and it seems best that our visitors search the web themselves and select the information they want. This site focuses on finding the memorials, photographing them, plotting them on a map and logging them in a searchable database, thus providing a powerful research tool. As far as we know, we are the only people doing this, treating all memorials equally, from the rich and famous to the poor and humble.

STOP PRESS

Big things afoot at LondonRemembers - we are planning our move to GoogleMaps. The flat-pack boxes are in the hall and the pantechnicons are on their way. This is an opportunity for a big revamp for the site so if you have any ideas for improvements, or little niggles that you'd like fixed, now's the time to tell us. Is the font too small? Perhaps the page layout doesn't make sense, anything like that, we want to know. Try not to revel too much in your criticism (we don't want to sense your cruel glee) but we really do want to know what you think could be improved. Please "contact us" and help us to make the new site the best it can be.

We share the feelings of one of Julian Barnes' characters in his novel 'Talking it over' (Picador) who comments on how he has started noticing things since he has been in love.
"I start seeing things I never would have noticed before. You know how you can walk along a street in London and never raise your eyes above the top of a bus? You go along, and you look at the other people, and the shops, and the traffic, and you never look up, not really up. I know what you're going to say, if you did look up you'd probably step in a pile of dog turds or walk into a lamp-post, but I'm serious. I'm serious. Raise your eyes just that little bit more and you'll spot something, an odd roof, some fancy bit of Victorian decoration. Or lower them, for that matter. The other day, one lunchtime in fact, I was walking up the Farringdon Road. All of a sudden I noticed something I must have walked past dozens of times. A plaque set in the wall at shin height, painted cream with the lettering picked out in black."

We have also walked that section of Farringdon Road - click on the picture of the plaque for more information.

There are three ways into the data held here:

• Each map clearly plots all the memorials that it contains so you can quickly find what there is in a particular street or district.
• The Search page allows a search by name (Marx, Jane, etc.) or by Category (Politics, Art, etc.).  If the search facility doesn't meet your needs, Contact us and we will search for you, using our powerful local tools.
• The What's New page lists what's been added recently.

• Burial grounds, churches, and all such religious buildings have been excluded from our researches. Each one of them probably merits a site in its own right. Communal war monuments near or in church grounds have however been included where clearly visible from the street.
• We've only actively collected memorials that are on public view. There are many memorials in public buildings, such as schools, and even in private buildings. Click here: How you can help.
• Foundation stones. Not normally included. Boring local councillors can't get on our site just by laying a dull foundation stone for a non-descript building.
• Non-commemorative statues - Lovely though some of these are, life is too short to include these in this web site, so the rule is: only memorials.
• Many London pubs have plaques, erected by the brewery, giving some information about the local history, often colourful but vague.  These are generally excluded.

Every human activity worth its salt has to have its own specialist vocabulary, so here's ours.

• Site: A place on the ground (and pinpointed on our maps) where one or more memorials are to be found.
• Memorial: A plaque, monument, statue, etc.
• Subject: That which is commemorated: a person, an event, a building, etc. This also includes those people and organisations involved in creating a memorial, such as the sculptor, the historical society who placed it, the celebrity who unveiled it, etc.

We have adopted the convention that, for alphabetical sequencing:

• there are no blanks in names such as duMaurier, VanDyck, etc.
• names are arranged as follows: surname, first name(s) or initials, title(s)

When describing memorials with expressions such as "on the left face" we always mean: "on the left, as you face the monument".

You know of a memorial and it's not listed on this site? Please tell us about it. Our excuses for our omissions are various:

• We have not yet searched that area,
• We have the memorial but have not yet entered it on the web site,
• When we walked that street the memorial was obscured by scaffolding, a bus, etc.
• Perhaps the memorial has been placed since we searched that area.

By now you either think we are crazy to be doing this or you're fascinated and would love to help. Currently we have a huge back-log of memorials waiting to be published. The bottle-neck is the desk research: finding the Subject pictures, getting even just some basic information to put on our database about the people and events commemorated. This all takes time and prevents us getting out on the streets which is what we really want to do. But perhaps you would enjoy this research? Or perhaps you've broken a leg and are looking for some activity that you can do from a chair? We welcome your offer of help.

Contact us and let us know what interests you.

If you help us we will give you credit (unless you'd rather be anonymous).

Sources which have been very useful in our research:

• Book: Discovering London Plaques, Derek Sumeray, Shire Publications (1999)
• Book: London Statues and Monuments, Margaret Baker, Shire Publications (1995)

People who have helped by finding memorials, providing photos, text, etc.:

• Bob Baker
• Matt Brown
• Jane Davis

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