Monument

Cenotaph

Erection date: 11/11/1920

Inscription

{On the south face:}
MCMXIV {1914}
The glorious dead

{On the north face:}
MCMXIX {1919}

{On the east face:}
MCMXLV {1945}

{On the west face:}
MCMXXXIX {1939}

"Cenotaph" is Greek for "empty tomb".   The shape is a plain pylon with a coffin on top.  This memorial by Lutyens, for the first anniversary of the 1919 Armistice, was originally a temporary structure in plaster and wood, but it proved so popular that it was reconstructed in Portland stone as a permanent memorial. The inscription for WW2 was unveiled in 1946 by George VI. There is an exact replica in London, Canada.

See Veterans UK for lots of information.

We've read that the planes are subtly tapered and meet at a point 1,000ft in the air.

Site: Cenotaph (1 memorial)

SW1, Whitehall

Our photos were taken on 12 November 2009.

About this memorial, in his 1928 People's Album of London Statues, Osbert Sitwell writes: "we were compelled to choose a monument without any sculptured decoration on it, so atrocious would have been the detail had it been entrusted to a bad academic sculptor, so great the outcry had the commission gone to a good modern one."

Vintage Everyday reproduces some notorious photographs taken at the Cenotaph during the two minute silence on Armistice Day in 1921, 1922, 1923, and 1924. These photographs were produced by Ada Deane, the 'spirit photographer', and purported to show the spirits of the dead amongst the crowds at the ceremony, including some identifiable people, whose faces happened to have recently appeared in newspapers.  She was widely denounced as a fraud but some chose to support her, including Arthur Conan Doyle.

Comments are provided by Facebook, please ensure you are signed in here to see them

This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Cenotaph

Subjects commemorated i

World War 1

We'd always assumed that this war was known as the Great War until WW2 came a...

Read More

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
Cenotaph

Created by i

Sir Edwin Lutyens

Architect. Born at 16 Onslow Square. Specialised in English country houses. C...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl Meath

Reginald Brabazon, 12th Earl Meath

W2, Lancaster Gate

The memorial was designed by Hermon Cawthra RA and unveiled in 1934. It is grade II listed. A City of Westminster information plaque on ...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Queen Victoria visits The City

Queen Victoria visits The City

EC4, Victoria Embankment

Victoria died on 22 January 1901, less than a year after this last visit to the City.

4 subjects commemorated, 2 creators
Last V2 rocket in Kingston upon Thames

Last V2 rocket in Kingston upon Thames

KT2, Park Road, Corner of King's Road

The plaque says that 8 people were killed but has the names of only five: four women and one 7-year-old girl.

Civilian war dead | WW2
12 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
St Mary of Eton - WW1 memorial

St Mary of Eton - WW1 memorial

E9, Eastway

The IWM War Memorials Register has a photo of an undated note saying ".. it would appear that the names are similar to the memorial in Vi...

War dead | WW1, WW2
200 subjects commemorated
Tottenham Green war memorial

Tottenham Green war memorial

N15, Tottenham Green

The statue is named 'Victory'. While the form of the monument is very different, the inscription is extremely similar to that on the Edmo...

3 subjects commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

William Clive Bridgeman

William Clive Bridgeman

Conservative politician. Home Secretary 1922-24. Born 89 Harley Street. Died at home at the family estate in Shropshire.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Claylands Chapel

Claylands Chapel

Built as a Congregational church and opened on 29 June 1836, this building is at the north corner of Claylands Road and Claylands Place (just south of the Oval). In 1845 it was renovated and capaci...

Building, Religion

1 memorial
Herbert Morrison - Bromley

Herbert Morrison - Bromley

BR1, Moorside Road, 7 - 9

The plaque was originally installed in the old library in Downham.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson

Field Marshal Sir Henry Wilson

Prominent General in WW1 who visited Northern Ireland in March 1922 and spoke his mind on the Irish situation. On 22 June he unveiled the Liverpool Street Station war memorial and then went home to...

Person, Armed Forces, Tragedy

1 memorial
Texas

Texas

After Texas won its independence from Mexico in 1836, Britain was one of the first countries in the world to recognize the Republic of Texas as a nation. From Statesman: The United Kingdom enjoys ...

Place, Politics & Administration, USA

1 memorial