St Botolph without Aldersgate is of medieval origin and survived the Great Fire of London with only minor damage but subsequently fell into disrepair and was rebuilt in 1788–91. The church is renowned for its beautiful interior and historic organ.
St Botolph’s churchyard was combined with those of St Leonard, Foster Lane, and Christchurch, Newgate Street, into Postman’s Park in 1880 and this now contains the Watts Memorial to Historic Self-Sacrifice, commemorating civilian Londoners who died heroic deaths.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Botolph%27s_Aldersgate
Postman’s Park, (It’s name reflects its popularity amongst workers from the nearby GPO’s headquarters) opened in 1880 on the site of the former churchyard and burial ground of St Botolph’s Aldersgate church and expanded over the next 20 years. In 1972, key elements of the park, including the Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, were grade II listed to preserve their character
In 1900, the park became the location for George Frederic Watts’s Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice, a memorial to ordinary people who died while saving the lives of others and who might otherwise be forgotten, in the form of a loggia and long wall housing ceramic memorial tablets. Only four of the planned 120 memorial tablets were in place at the time of its opening, with a further nine tablets added during Watts’s lifetime.
Watts’s wife, Mary Watts, took over the management of the project after Watts’s death in 1904 and oversaw the installation of a further 35 memorial tablets in the following four years along with a small monument to Watts. Later she became disillusioned with the new tile manufacturer and, with her time and money increasingly occupied by the running of the Watts Gallery, she lost interest in the project, and only five further tablets were added during her lifetime.
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Postman%27s_Park
en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_tablets_on_the_Memorial_to_…
Posted by MKDarlo (Richard) on 2016-04-10 13:08:25
Tagged: , St Botolph’s Aldersgate , St Botolph without Aldersgate , St Botolph’s , Postman’s Park , Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice , The Memorial to Heroic Self Sacrifice , George Frederic Watts , London , England , City of London , Westminster , City of Westminster
