Statues - Hither & Thither

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Trafalgar Square (WC2)

Memorial Fountain to David Beatty

Admiral of the Fleet David Richard Beatty, 1st Earl Beatty
Nantwich, Cheshire 1871 - London 1936
Royal Navy officer
(Wikipedia)

William McMillan
1948

London / Memorial Fountain to David Beatty

Description

Two sculpure groups depicting a merman and a mermaid respectively, both with dolphins and sharks in a quatrefoil-shaped fountain basin.

London - Memorial Fountain to David Beatty

Annotation

The mermaid statues do not have the traditional single tail, but instead have long and powerful tails as an extension of each thigh.

Trafalgar Square Fountains

The Jellicoe and Beatty memorials were unveiled on 21 October 1948 (Trafalgar Day) by the Duke of Gloucester. They were adapted from the fountains designed by Sir Charles Barry and installed in 1845; The architect Sir Edwin Lutyens retained Barry's cusped quatrefoil-shaped basins and added the vase-shaped central fountains. Each memorial consists of a fountain with a bronze sculptural group and a bust of the admiral in question. During the 2003 refurbishment of the square the busts were moved to the eastern side of the new steps; they previously faced their associated fountains.

Jellicoe memorial:
- Bust
- Fountain
Beatty memorial:
- Bust
- Fountain

A square plaque near the centre of the square marks the dedication of the fountains:

these fountains and
the busts against the
north wall of the
square were erected
by parliament to the
memory of the admirals of
the fleet earl jellicoe
and earl beatty to the
end that their illustrious
services to the state
might never be forgotten

Sculptor

William McMillan (Aberdeen 1887 - 1970), Scottish scuptor (Mapping of Sculpture).

Sources & Information

Wikipedia, List of public art in the City of Westminster.
Bob Speel, London sculpture.
Wikipedia, Trafalgar Square.
Andrew Kershman, London's Monuments (London: Metro Publ., 2013), p. 15.
Peter Matthews, London's Statues and Monuments (Botley: Shire, 2012), p. 13.

Locatie (N 51°30'29" - W 0°7'39") (Satellite view: Google Maps)

Item Code: gblo016; Photograph: 3 August 2014
Of each statue we made photos from various angles and also detail photos of the various texts.
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© Website and photos: René & Peter van der Krogt

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