Bust

Drill Hall - head 1 - Irish soldier

Erection date: 1882

Site: Drill Hall - W1 (7 memorials)

W1, Chenies Street, Drill Hall

In the spandrels above the entrance door: "Bloomsbury Rifles Pro Patria Semper" ('for my country always'). The technique used for this lettering is new to us, and has weathered, or aged, very badly.

The ends of the label, or drip, window mouldings are decoratively finished with individual sculpted heads. The six on the first floor are small and not too interesting but the six on the ground floor are so delightful we could not let them go, even though their status as memorials is, at best, tangential. We've numbered them left to right and identified a character for each one, except number 4. Do look at them in the larger format - the facial expressions are individual and the moustaches long.

Discussing head 4 with Mike Patterson of London Historians he points out that, in common with other infantry regiments, the Bloomsbury Rifles cap badge incorporated the Maltese cross so that would explain the symbol on the cap. He agrees that, as with 1 and 2, 4 has a local British look but we can't pin it down. Welsh would be an obvious candidate but we can find no images to confirm this association. Of course it could just be bog standard English.

See the foundation stone page for information about the building and its architect. It remained in use by military groups until 1960. It is now RADA Studios.

Londonist have posted a Museum of London video about this drill hall.

The Jewish Legion HQ was at 22 Chenies Street - two buildings to the east.

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

This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Drill Hall - head 1 - Irish soldier

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Guildhall - Cromwell bust

Guildhall - Cromwell bust

EC2, Guildhall Yard, Guildhall

The arcade contains four modern busts, left to right: Pepys Cromwell Shakespeare Wren and a statue of Whittington to the left.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Cunningham bust

Cunningham bust

WC2, Trafalgar Square

Unveiled by Prince Philip in 1967. Inside the bust there is a ½ pint Guinness bottle and a note written by Belsky. The Guinness was, it i...

1 subject commemorated, 3 creators
National Portrait Gallery - Fuller

National Portrait Gallery - Fuller

WC2, Charing Cross Road

This building, 1896, designed by Ewan Christian, has 18 busts contained in medallions around the top of the facades. Starting at the east...

1 subject commemorated
Colonial Office - B07 - Watt

Colonial Office - B07 - Watt

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Caxton Hall - head 4 - unidentified

Caxton Hall - head 4 - unidentified

SW1, Caxton Street, 10, Caxton Hall

Possibly John Fisher, Bishop of Rochester. His hat is spot on (possibly standard bishop-wear at the time) and although Fisher is normal...

Previously viewed

Earl Waldegrave

Earl Waldegrave

Politician. President of the Committee for the erection of the Florence Nightingale Hospital in 1909.

Person, Politics & Administration

1 memorial
Colonial Office - S05 - Bulwer Lytton

Colonial Office - S05 - Bulwer Lytton

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

Statues Hither and Thither has been invaluable in identifying some of the busts and most of the statues. The statues are not labelled and...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Members of the BMA who died in WW1
1 memorial