Bust

Knightsbridge - 3 - Roberts

Erection date: 1905

Stephen Brasher suggested that this is Field Marshal Lord Roberts and, having examined a number of portraits, especially one here, we agree.

Site: Knightsbridge - 6 busts (6 memorials)

SW1, Knightsbridge, 55 - 91

This huge building, Grade 2 listed and in need of a clean, is actually 18 buildings behind a unifying facade designed by W. D. Caroe, in red brick with stone dressings in an eclectic Queen Anne/Flemish style. 1902 - 5. Built as a mansion block but unusually there were seven developers who designed their own segments behind the facade.

A 2010 planning application contains a few drawings and early photographs but there is no mention of these busts, numbered here left to right.  

When we published these 6 busts we were pretty confident with our identification of heads 1 and 2 but were struggling to identify the others.  Readers quickly sent in some helpful suggestions, readers more familiar with the faces of celebrities from that period than we are.  So we have corrected our identifications, but if you think we still have it wrong please let us know.

The second floor corner at Wilton Place carries a rather splendid royal crest with the top-most lion looking more like a lap-dog.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Knightsbridge - 3 - Roberts

Subjects commemorated i

Earl Roberts, 1st Earl Roberts of Kandahar

British field marshal, served in India and the Boer War. Born India to an Iri...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Knightsbridge - 3 - Roberts

Also at this site i

Knightsbridge - 4 - Kitchener

Knightsbridge - 4 - Kitchener

Stalin?  Can't be - for so many reasons, one being that he didn't look like t...

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Knightsbridge - 5 - Temple

Knightsbridge - 5 - Temple

We original thought this was Gladstone (who had died only a few years before)...

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Knightsbridge - 6 - Salisbury

Knightsbridge - 6 - Salisbury

Lea Cornthwaite suggested this might be the Duke of Cambridge. Stephen Brashe...

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Nearby Memorials

Drill Hall - head 1 - Irish soldier

Drill Hall - head 1 - Irish soldier

W1, Chenies Street, Drill Hall

In the spandrels above the entrance door: "Bloomsbury Rifles Pro Patria Semper" ('for my country always'). The technique used for this le...

The George

The George

W1, D'Arblay Street, 1

There has been a public house of this name here since at least 1739 but the bust is a very good likeness of George IV, regent 1811 - 1820...

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William Vincent

William Vincent

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The terracotta plaque and Nabresina stone tablet, were commissioned by the residents' association to commemorate the bicentenary of the a...

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Duchess of Kent

Duchess of Kent

N1, Prebend Street, 32, Duchess of Kent pub

We identified which particular Duchess of Kent is represented by finding the painting on which the portrait is based at baltyra but the ...

1 subject commemorated
Charles I bust at St Margarets

Charles I bust at St Margarets

SW1, St Margaret Street, St Margarets Church

This is one of a pair, See Charles I beheaded for more information. IanVisits pours cold water on the myth that nearby Cromwell's eyes a...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator