Other

Following the Leader

Erection date: 1949

Site: Following the Leader (1 memorial)

SE11, Laud Street, Vauxhall Gardens Estate, Darley House

The full title 'Following the Leader (Memorial to the Children Killed in the Blitz)’ makes it clear that this relief is indeed a memorial. Two other nearby, similar Peri reliefs are not so named but we have collected them anyway for completeness. Everything below applies to all 3 sculptures.

Commissioned by the LCC, the sculptures together with the bricks around them are all Listed (Following, Footballers, Mother) but the rest of the buildings are not. The listings explain that in the 1930s Peri "pioneered the use of concrete as a medium for expressive sculptures and came to specialise in architectural reliefs in coloured concrete, developing ‘Pericrete’, a mixture of concrete with polyester resin and metallic powders." and that the "concrete {is} laid over an expanded metal mesh". Ornamental Passions has more to say about the technique.

We noticed that for all these sculptures the bricks in the wall behind are slightly differently-coloured, or cleaner, than those of the rest of the walls. The Listings explain: "According to the catalogue of a Peri exhibition at the Leicestershire Museum and Art Gallery in 1991, the composition was originally framed by dark coloured pointing to the brick to make it stand out from the rest of the surface but this has since been replaced with standard mortar."

All are described as being "mounted on the stair tower" but the towers look more like lift towers, added to the (probably) pre-war blocks after the war.

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:
Following the Leader

Subjects commemorated i

The Blitz

During WW2 Britain came under heavy bombing from Germany for 8 months, 1940-1...

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

Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

This page brings together all the memorials that we have for civilians killed...

Read More

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

Created by i

Peter Peri

Born in Hungary as Ladislas Weisz. Moved to Berlin in the 1920s and became, t...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Dodi and Diana - Harrods

Dodi and Diana - Harrods

SW1, Brompton Road, Harrods

Both the Egyptian escalator and associated decorations and the bronze statue were designed by Bill Mitchell. The pyramid shrine was insta...

2 subjects commemorated, 3 creators
Blue lamp

Blue lamp

N1, Tolpuddle Street, 2, Police Station

The text comes from a small brass plaque in the blind window below the lamp.

1 subject commemorated
Arnold and Verna Rosen

Arnold and Verna Rosen

N16, Newington Green garden

From London Gardens Online: "The gardens ... were re-landscaped in 2004/5. Prior to this there were formal rose beds and shrubs, with two...

1 subject commemorated
Claire Hitier-Abadie

Claire Hitier-Abadie

SW1, Victoria Street

Prompted by by this horrible killing, a 'die-in' protest took place on 2 March and our photo comes from Oxford Street. Our picture of th...

2 subjects commemorated
London Bridge alcove at Guy's Hospital

London Bridge alcove at Guy's Hospital

SE1, Great Maze Pond, Guy's Hospital - the Colonnade

{On a nearby modern plaque:} The London Bridge niche. Portland stone. The stone niche was purchased by Guy's Hospital for 10 guineas and ...

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators

Previously viewed

Society of Friends in London

Society of Friends in London

English Buildings has a good short intro to Quakers in England and an assessment of an important Quaker building, albeit, not in London. Quakers were active in the WW2 Kindertransport.

Group, Religion

3 memorials
Carabiniers

Carabiniers

Former cavalry regiment, officially the Sixth Dragoon Guards. They participated in putting down the rebellion of Bonnie Prince Charlie in 1745-46 and fought in the Peninsular, Crimean and Boer Wars...

Group, Armed Forces

1 memorial
Nightingale Nurse Training School

Nightingale Nurse Training School

In full, the Florence Nightingale Faculty of Nursing, Midwifery & Palliative Care. The world's first nursing school to be continuously connected to a fully serving hospital (St Thomas's) and me...

Group, Education, Medicine

1 memorial
Arsenal Football Club Supporters

Arsenal Football Club Supporters

Often referred to as 'Gooners', being a play on the team's nickname of the 'Gunners'.

Group, Community / Clubs, Sport / Games

2 memorials