Statue

(relocated) General Gordon on a camel

Erection date: 18/7/1902

To commemorate Gordon, the Corps of Royal Engineers, Gordon's own Corps, commissioned a statue from Edward Onslow Ford. The original specification was for a statue of General Gordon on foot in the uniform of an Egyptian General, but the sculptor considered it more appropriate for him to be mounted on a camel. To this end Ford made studies at London Zoo, including casts from a dead camel, and the sculptor's camel design prevailed.

The first casting was exhibited at the Royal Academy in 1890 and was then erected in Brompton Barracks near Chatham, Kent, where it remains.

The second casting was originally unveiled in 1902 in St. Martin's Place {where the Cavell statue now is}, but was shipped to Sudan in October of that year and erected in Gordon Avenue, Khartoum. Here it remained until 1958, when, rejected by the Sudanese Government after independence, it was presented by the British government to Gordon's School where, since 1959, it has been situated at the edge of the playing fields. Making the camel better travelled than many of flesh and blood.

Source: Historic England.

For another London camel statue see Imperial Camel Corps.

Site: General Gordon on a camel (1 memorial)

WC2, St Martin's Place

With lost memorials we usually have to rely on other websites for photographs. The image showing the entrance to the National Portrait Gallery is from Alamy. The image showing St Martins-in-the-Fields is from A London Inheritance, a whole post about the buildings on the site immediately to the north of the statue.

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:
General Gordon on a camel

Subjects commemorated i

Major General Charles George Gordon

Army officer. Made his military reputation in China. Achieved lasting fame th...

Read More

This section lists the subjects who helped to create/erect the memorial on this page:
General Gordon on a camel

Created by i

E. Onslow Ford

Born Islington as Edward Onslow Ford, but he dropped the Edward. Studied Antw...

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Albert McKenzie statue

Albert McKenzie statue

SE1, Tower Bridge Road

The concrete plinth represents a section of the Zeebrugge harbour wall. We believe there were plans to use an actual section of the wall...

War dead | WW1
1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Flaxman

Frieze of Parnassus - Flaxman

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Grey Coat School - boy

Grey Coat School - boy

SW1, Greycoat Place, Grey Coat School

The scholars are on the central facade of the building: boy to left, girl to right, with the British Royal coat of arms between. Above th...

2 subjects commemorated
Margaret MacDonald

Margaret MacDonald

WC2, Lincoln's Inn Fields

Bronze statue unveiled on 19 December 1914. Sculpted by Goulden to Ramsay's design.

1 subject commemorated, 2 creators
Frieze of Parnassus - Cibber

Frieze of Parnassus - Cibber

SW7, Kensington Road

The monument, officially titled the Prince Consort National Memorial, celebrates Victorian achievement and Prince Albert's passions and i...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator