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St james's Garden - people of London - wood

Inscription

The garden on this bomb-damaged site was given by the late Viscount Southwood on behalf of the Daily Herald to commemorate the courage and fortitude of the people of London in the Second World War, 1939-1945.

Site: St James's Church Garden (4 memorials)

SW1, Piccadilly

Looking at the cafe picture:
- The war damage plaque is on the wall that you can just see on the left.
- On the right you can see one of the four cherubs belonging to the Southwood fountain.

The wooden memorial would be seen in the photo of the Southwood fountain, were it not for the green caravan drop-in.

This former graveyard was opened as a garden, funded by Viscount Southwood, in 1946 by the Queen Mother.

On a visit in about 1998 we found a small hand-made memorial in amongst the plants, to Taffy, a tramp who had made the garden his home and had recently died. When we went back some years later with our camera this, not surprisingly, had gone so we sadly cannot include it here. 2012 - Discovering London (dead link) have a picture of Taffy's sign plus one for Mackerel the Rectory Cat.

2022: Watching the 1952 film, The Last Page, we recognised this garden as the location for an assignation for two of the characters (at about 1.5 hours in, on the TV version of the movie). The space looked fresh and clear of all the clutter that was there when we last visited.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
St james's Garden - people of London - wood

Subjects commemorated i

World War 2

Sorry, we've done no research on WW2, it's just too big a subject. But do vis...

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Civilian deaths in London caused by enemy action

This page brings together all the memorials that we have for civilians killed...

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People of London

These memorials have been sponsored by newspapers: the Daily Herald and the E...

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Julius Salter Elias, Viscount Southwood

'Fairlight' in Wood Lane, Highgate, was built in 1908 for Julius Elias. who w...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
St james's Garden - people of London - wood

Also at this site i

St James's Church Garden opening

St James's Church Garden opening

Mary of Nazareth by Sir Charles Wheeler P.R.A., presented in 1975. This gard...

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St James's war damage

St James's war damage

This church, built by Sir Christopher Wren, consecrated on July 13th 1684, da...

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Viscount & Viscountess Southwood - St James's

Viscount & Viscountess Southwood - St James's

The ashes of both Southwoods are in the memorial at the top of the steps. Th...

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Nearby Memorials

Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk

Diana Princess of Wales Memorial Walk

SW1, St James's Park

The top picture is a scan from a leaflet about this walk, available from: http://www.royalparks.gov.uk/ It shows that the walk actually ...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Newgate Street Clock

Newgate Street Clock

EC1, Newgate Street

The size of this "wandering hour" clock, a 2 metre diameter, makes it unique. The arms of the Clockmakers company are at the centre of th...

2 subjects commemorated, 4 creators
wherrymen seat

wherrymen seat

SE1, Bankside, Riverside House

From the middle ages on, the south bank, lying outside the area regulated by the City, tended to be the place of recreation: theatres, br...

1 subject commemorated, 1 creator
Tinworth pillar

Tinworth pillar

SE11, Kennington Park Road, Kennington Park

On a nearby information board: "Tinworth Fountain - This was once a large ornamental fountain that stood in a panelled garden close to to...

3 creators
Richard Courtney Balding

Richard Courtney Balding

SE1, Southwark Bridge Road, 38

The pediment is at about ground level, between the window and the pavement railings. And yes, we had to clean the metal plate before we ...

2 subjects commemorated