South African War Memorial

Description

In 1916 a hospital was established in Richmond Park to provide treatment as necessary for the South African troops serving on the Western Front. Two years later it merged with the nearby Richmond Military Hospital to become the South African Military Hospital. Thirty-nine of those who died were buried in a separate section of the nearby Richmond Cemetery and Lutyens was commissioned to design a suitable memorial to them. Made from granite and somewhat stark in appearance with only minimum decoration – two carvings of the head of a springbok and simple inscriptions in English and Dutch – the memorial was unveiled by General Jan Smuts on 30 June 1921.

The memorial is mistakenly described in a number of books about Lutyens as being in Richmond, South Africa rather than in south-west London. (Contributor: Tim Skelton)

Coarse grained granite cenotaph with a slightly flared base set on a similar stone plinth.
The outward face is inscribed: Union is Strength / Our / Glorious / Dead Below is an inscribed cross.
The inner face, overlooking the group of graves, is inscribed: Eendraght maakt macht / Onzen / Gevallenen / Helden
In the apex of each face is the head of a springbok in low relief.
The side elevations have a stylised stone wreath at the base and are inscribed to north and south respectively with the dates MCMXIV and MCMXIX. (Historic England, list entry 1409475)

Bibliography

Historic England.South African War Memorial. [Online] Available from: https://historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1409475

Also Cited In

Listing Grade

II

Listing Reference

1409475

Client