Plaque

Roman numerals at Christies

Inscription

XVI XI MCMXL
XVII IV MCMXLI
XXIII II MCMXLIV

AD PERPETVAM
REI MEMORIAM

Having been walked on for many decades the plaque is very worn but with David Hopkins' help we believe we now have it transcribed correctly, and translated as:

16.11.1940 
17.4.1941
23.2.1944
Lest we forget

David points out that all 3 dates recall significant bombing raids in London during WW2 each of which damaged this building, and possibly killed people inside.  The City of Westminster Archive Centre hold 3 photos of the nearby Orleans Club, King Street following the bombing raid of 16 November 1940.  At British History we find "Christie's premises were destroyed by incendiary bombs on the night of 16–17 April 1941. The firm moved to temporary quarters at No. 16a St. James's Street and later to Spencer House. When the King Street premises were rebuilt in 1952–3 the main façade of the old building, which had escaped destruction, was retained and reconstructed as part of the new work."  And at West End at War we find: "On 23 February 1944, a stick of four high explosive bombs caused massive damage to the area of Clubland between King Street and Pall Mall SW1 and northwards as far as Jermyn Street.”

Site: Roman numerals at Christies (1 memorial)

SW1, King Street, 5

This brass plaque is on the floor of an entrance, now disused, but visible from the street. When we first spotted it in about 1999, the building was being used by Spinks (who could offer no explanation) so we put it on our Puzzle Corner where David Hopkins saw it in 2012. He realised we had mis-transcribed some of the Roman numerals and so unlocked the answer.

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:
Roman numerals at Christies

Subjects commemorated i

World War 2

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

Read More

Nearby Memorials

Chiswick National School

Chiswick National School

W4, Sutton Court Road

The text suggests that the stone came from the original 1812 building but the style does not look old enough. Despite the layout, the ent...

1 subject commemorated
Burgess Park designers - 1979 air crash

Burgess Park designers - 1979 air crash

SE5, Burgess Park, Cobourg Road

Geoffrey Mills was the pilot - see his page for more details. Our information comes from the British Newspaper Archive: the Birmingham Da...

6 subjects commemorated
Arnold Bennett - SW1

Arnold Bennett - SW1

SW1, Cadogan Square, 75

London County Council Arnold Bennett, 1867 - 1931, novelist, lived here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Ada Lovelace

Ada Lovelace

SW1, St James's Square, 12

English Heritage Ada Countess of Lovelace, 1815 - 1852, pioneer of computing, lived here.

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
John Campbell, VC

John Campbell, VC

SW1, Victoria Embankment, Victoria Embankment Gardens

Reading right to left: De Pass; Rhodes-Moorhouse; Keysor; Campbell; Dunville; Colyer-Fergusson; Hewitt; Elliott-Cooper; Watson; Drummond;...

War served | WW1
2 subjects commemorated, 1 creator