Details
937/13/7 TANNERS LANE
22-FEB-79 BARKINGSIDE
Dr Barnardo's Memorial at Barnardo's
(Formerly listed as:
HORNS ROAD
BARKINGSIDE
DOCTOR BARNARDO'S MEMORIAL AT DOCTOR B
ARNARDO'S VILLAGE HOME)
GV II*
Memorial to Thomas John Barnardo, 1908, by George Frampton RA with later, small memorial to Syrie Barnardo, d.1944.
DESCRIPTION: The monument is in the form of an exedra - a Greek term for an outdoor seat, which came to define a semi-circular recess in classical architecture. In ancient Greek architecture, exedra could incorporate bronze statuary and a stone bench, and were located in sacred places. The monument to Dr Barnardo follows the ancient tradition and comprises a bronze female figure on a granite plinth with tall granite quadrant walls, incorporating benches, on a stepped base. The figure represents Charity and has her arms around two children. On the face of the plinth is a high-relief bronze panel depicting an almost life-size group of three girls. Above is a portrait of Dr Barnardo in an aedicule, framed by foliage, ribbons, and the words 'IN MEMORY OF / 1843 DR BARNARDO 1905'. At the peak of the foliage is a heraldic lion and a crown, inspired by the crest on a ring worn by Barnardo in his lifetime. The three figures were modelled on girl residents of the Village Homes; one of the three girls has surgical callipers on her legs and is remembered as being called Emily, who later became a member of Barnardo's staff. Below the panel, the base is inscribed with words from Dr Barnardo's will: 'I HOPE TO DIE AS I HAVE LIVED / IN THE HUMBLE BUT ASSURED FAITH OF / JESUS CHRIST / AS / MY SAVIOUR, MY MASTER AND MY KING'. The quadrant walls are inscribed 'SUFFER LITTLE CHILDREN TO COME UNTO ME / FOR OF SUCH IS THE KINGDOM OF HEAVEN' (to the left) and 'IN AS MUCH AS YE DID IT UNTO ONE OF THE LEAST / OF THESE MY BRETHREN YE DID IT UNTO ME' (to the right). In the paving in front of the central plinth is a small memorial to Syrie Barnardo, the philanthropist's wife, interred here in 1944.
HISTORY: The memorial, erected in 1908, marks the spot where Dr Barnardo's ashes were interred in 1905. It was unveiled by the Duchess of Albany.
Barnardo died at his home, St Leonard's Lodge in Surbiton, on 19 September 1905 and his funeral was on 27 September. This was a major event, with a cortege that processed through the streets of the East End, lined with mourners, to Liverpool Street Station where Barnardo's coffin was conveyed by train to Barkingside. After lying in the village church for people to further pay their respects, Barnardo's remains were cremated on 4 October, an unusual instance at this time of a public figure choosing cremation instead of burial. This monument, erected in 1908, marks where Dr Barnardo's ashes were interred. Now on the south-eastern edge of the Barnardo's site, the spot was originally in between two of the village greens, overlooked by cottage homes. The southern green cottages were demolished in the 1960s.
The monument was designed by Sir George Frampton RA (1860-1928). Frampton trained at the South London Technical Art School, the Royal Academy Schools, and in the studios of Antonin Mercié in Paris and Sir Joseph Edgar Boehm in London. He was master of the Art-Workers' Guild in 1902, was one of the founding signatories of the Society of British Sculptors in 1904, its president in 1911-12, and a member of the Royal Fine Arts Commission from its foundation in 1924. He was knighted in 1908. Frampton is best-remembered for his statue of Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens, London, erected in 1912, as well as the memorials to Edith Cavell, St Martin's Place, to Quentin Hogg, Portland Place and to WS Gilbert, Thames Embankment. Frampton undertook the commission 'without fee or reward'.
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The memorial to Thomas John Barnardo is designated at Grade II* for the following principal reasons:
* authorship: an exemplar of the work of renowned sculptor George Frampton RA
* artistic quality: the sculpture combines allegory with life-like representations of girls at the Village Homes and make for a memorial with a mixture of poignancy and sentimentality characteristic of the man commemorated
* historic interest: it marks the resting place and includes a bronze portrait of Dr Thomas Barnardo, the famous Victorian philanthropist and founder of Dr Barnardo's Homes
* setting: it sits within the former Barnardo's Village Home at Barkingside and has group value with the listed cottage homes, in particular Cairn's Cottage.
