Bust

Drill Hall - head 6 - Crimean 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 6 - Crimean soldier

Also at this site i

Nearby Memorials

Grosvenor Hotel - head 10

Grosvenor Hotel - head 10

SW1, Buckingham Palace Road, Grosvenor Hotel

This 1860 building, by architect James Knowles Snr, is studded with many portrait busts of which we believe only these 14 are representat...

William Whiteley - bust

William Whiteley - bust

KT12, Whiteley Village

The Listing text says the statue and the relief are of copper, not the more usual bronze. The front of the plinth below the seated lady s...

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Colonial Office - B04 - Sinclair

Colonial Office - B04 - Sinclair

SW1, Whitehall, Foreign Office

When we published we wrote: "Who is this man? His identity escapes both us and Hither and Thither. A politician from the 18th century (fr...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Earl Russell bust

Earl Russell bust

W1, Mortimer Street, 22, Earl Russell

This used to be "mystery bust" in Puzzle Corner but our colleague, Alan Patient, has done some research into the appropriately squiffy-lo...

1 subject commemorated
RIPWC - Girtin

RIPWC - Girtin

W1, Piccadilly, 192-196

The building by E. R. Robson was erected for the Royal Institute of Painters in Water Colour, founded in 1831 (the crest in the centre of...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator

Previously viewed

Colin Townsley - red plaque

Colin Townsley - red plaque

N1, Euston Road, Kings Cross Station

Unveiled on the 34th anniversary of the fire and Townsley's death.

2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator
Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford

Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford

Born Jane Parker, a distant relative of Henry VIII, she became a lady-in-waiting to his first wife, Catherine of Aragon, and to quite a few of those that followed.  Married Anne Boleyn’s brother, G...

Person, Execution

2 memorials
Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in Wanstead

Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee in Wanstead

E11, Cambridge Park, George Green

The Latin quotation is interesting. It is from the Bible, Proverbs 3;16, and our Latin consultant, David Hopkins, translates it as "In h...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Barbara Hepworth

Barbara Hepworth

Born in Wakefield as Jocelyn Barbara Hepworth. At art school met and became a friendly rival of Henry Moore, though it was she who first 'pierced' her sculptures. With her first husband had a son w...

Person, Sculpture, Seriously Famous

1 memorial
Toy Inn

Toy Inn

Its name derives from the fact that it was situated by the tow path on the Thames. Although the plaque says that it was built for Oliver Cromwell's troops, it actually originated as a hostelry for ...

Building, Property

1 memorial