“Frampton's Monument to Edith Cavell

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Edith Cavell

Sir George Frampton, R.A., P.R.B.S. (1860-1928)

Unveiled 1920

White marble, against a 7.6-metre-tall grey granite cross.

St Martin's Place, London WC2

Nurse Edith Cavell (1865-1915), shot at dawn in Brussels for helping allied soldiers escape to Holland in the early stages of World War I, is shown in the nurse's uniform she wore to face the firing squad. As a contemporary New York Times report about plans for the statue had foreseen, "The serene figure of the heroic nurse" now stands "in the midst of a constant swirl of traffic" — a silent witness to courage in the face of death ("To Charge Nothing") [continued below].

Other Views

Close-up of figure

Lion representing Fortitude

Photograph, caption and commentary by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009.

[You may use this image without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL.]

The woman and child depicted at the top of the cross were meant to symbolise Humanity, more specifically the allies' role in protecting Belgium and other small nations (see Bullus and Asprey 186).

Very different from Frampton's other sculptures, the monument was poorly received at the time. A reviewer in the British Journal of Nursing wrote, "the figure of Edith Cavell is a beautiful conception, finely executed, but it is overshadowed and dwarfed by the great mass of granite which forms the background; and the squat figure representing Humanity, surmounting it, is as unpleasing as it is curious" ("The Edith Cavell Memorial"; see also Weinreb et al. 868, and Baker 12). Nevertheless, the figure's austerity and streamlined simplicity seem eminently suited to the subject. Criticism was particularly ungracious since Frampton, by then President of the Royal Society of British Sculptors, made no charge for his services.

Bibliography

Baker, Margaret. London Statues and Monuments. 4th ed. Princes Risborough: Shire, 1995.

Bullus, Claire and Ronald Asprey. The Statues of London. London & New York: Merrell, 2009.

"To Charge Nothing for Cavell Statue." New York Times, 2 November 1915, p. 3. Available offsite here. Viewed 26 May 2009.

"The Edith Cavell Memorial: The Unveiling of the Statue." The British Journal of Nursing. 27 March 1920, 189-90.

Weinreb, Ben, et al, eds. The London Encyclopaedia. 3rd ed. London: Macmillan, 2008.

Last modified 26 May 2009