Customs at Collections

Remembrance / Memorials

Some memorials. Tyburn Walk, from the Old Bailey to Marble Arch in London, commemorates the execution of 105 Catholic martyrs on Tyburn gallows in the Protestant Reformation in the 16^th and early 17^th centuries. Dwindling numbers, and exasperation from police, Transport for London and the shopkeepers of Oxford Street make it likely that the Tyburn Walk will soon be history. The historian of London, John Stow, is remembered every 5 April, the day he died in 1605, when the Lord Mayor of London or the Alderman of Aldgate Ward replaces the quill pen on his memorial in St Andrew Undershaft. Since 1946 the famous clown, Joseph Grimaldi who died in 1837, has been honoured on the first Sunday in February in Holy Trinity, Dalston, north London, by an unusual congregation almost entirely composed of clowns. In Cucklet Delph the people of Eyam remember the vicar and villagers who made heroic sacrifices during the great plague of 1665 while Meriden, the ‘centre of England’, draws cyclists from all over the country to a lycra-clad service in honour of cyclists who died in the two World Wars. Many schools, and other bodies, observe a Founder’s Day. The Royal Stuart Society commemorates King Charles I on the last Sunday in January at his fine equestrian statue at the north end of Whitehall by Trafalgar Square. St Swithun was a ninth century bishop of Winchester who became patron saint of the Cathedral which holds a service by his grave on 15 July, his feast day. He is also celebrated as a weather forecaster – so we know for certain that in 1984 it was fine until 24 August. In the middle of July the Padley Chapel Ceremony in Derbyshire is for three catholic priests who were hanged, drawn and quartered in 1588. 49 ‘unmarried’ parishioners are remembered all the time in Abbots Ann in Hampshire as ‘Virgin’s Crowns’ (also known as Virgin’s Crants or Maiden’s Garlands) hang high on the walls of the parish church. They were carried there before the coffin of parishioners of ‘unblemished character’. Made of wooden hoops and parchment, they hang in the church until they disintegrate - the earliest has been in place since 1740, the latest since 1973. The collection includes garlands for 13 young men and boys. There are examples in several other churches around the country, especially in Derbyshire. The Sir John Cass Foundation in London remembers their founder by a splendid service and the wearing of red feathers. Legend has it that when he was writing his will enabling the foundation to be set up he suffered a massive brain haemorrhage and blood stained his quill pen. Barrow-in-Furness honours family forebears by a spectacular display on Easter Sunday while, for the same purpose, Cemetery Sundays are quite common in Catholic Ireland. Finally, old soldiers are off to the Cenotaph, poppies cover the Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey and poppy wreaths surround the Cenotaph after the morning parade in Whitehall on Remembrance Sunday...

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Tyburn Walk passing along Oxford Street, London, 1984 - to the intense irritation of the London buses (The walk is in commemoration of 105 Catholic martyrs who died on Tyburn Gallows, which was situated near Marble Arch)

The ‘Tyburn Walk’, in remembrance of 105 Catholic martyrs hanged at Tyburn gallows (near Marble Arch) during the Reformation, passing through Holborn, London, 1984

John Stowe with his Quill Pen in St Andrew Undershaft, Leadenhall Street, London EC3 (The quill pen is changed annually at a service on 5 April, the anniversary of his death in 1605)

John Stow’s monument in St Andrew Undershaft, London. His quill pen is still ceremonially changed at an annual service in early April (From ‘Old England’, published c1860)

A young performer at the Clowns’ Service held annually in honour of Joseph Grimaldi in Holy Trinity Church , Dalston, London, 1982

Before the Clowns’ Service in Holy Trinity Church, Dalston, London, which commemorates the life of Joseph Grimaldi, 1982

After the Clowns’ Service in Holy Trinity Church, Dalston, north London, in 1982 which commemorates the life of Joseph Grimaldi

At the Clowns’ Service held annually on the first Sunday in February in Holy Trinity Church, Dalston, London, to commemorate the life of Joseph Grimaldi

The Plague Service in Cucklet Dell to commemorate village sacrifices during the Great Plague of 1665, Eyam, Derbyshire, 1984

Wreaths at the Cyclists’ Memorial Service, Meriden, West Midlands, 1984 (Cyclists ride from all over the country to attend this open-air service at Meriden, claimed to be the centre of England)

Approprate wreaths by the memorial during the annual Cyclists’ Memorial Service on the green in Meriden, West Midlands, England, 1984

Charles I Commemoration by his statue at the top of Whitehall near Trafalgar Square, London, 1988

Founders Day at Friern Barnet Grammar School in North London, 1991 (The school was founded in 1884 but no longer exists as such - there must be any number of similar ceremonies around the country)

St Swithun’s Day Service at Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire, England, 15 July 1984 (St Swithun was a 9th century Bishop of Winchester and the cathedral is dedicated to him; legend has it that the weather on the anniversary of his death will continue for forty days)

Padley Chapel Ceremony, Upper Padley, near Grindleford, Derbyshire, England, 1995 (Commemorates the death of Catholic Martyrs in 1588)

Virgin’s Crown in St Mary the Virgin, Abbots Ann, Hampshire - there are 49 hanging in this church commemorating the deaths of pure unmarried parisioners, including 13 young boys

Red Feather Day at which pupils remember the founder (in 1710) of Sir John Cass School at St Botolph-without-Aldgate, in the City of London, England, 1996

Flowers in Barrow-in-Furness cemetery at Easter, Cumbria, England

Cemetery Sunday is an annual open air service held in many parishes in Ireland when Roman Catholic families gather to honour their dead - this one is in Co Tyrone, Northern Ireland

Old soldiers in the Mall, London on Remembrance Sunday, c1990

The Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey, London, on Remembrance Sunday, any year

Veteran of the Royal Hampshire Regiment at a service in Winchester Cathedral, Hampshire (In 1992 the Hampshires merged with the Queen’s Royal Regiment to become the Princess of Wales’s Royal Regiment)

Remembrance garden in George Square, Glasgow, Scotland

Wreaths laid at the Cenotaph, Whitehall, London, on Remembrance Day 2005

Floral tributes outside St Pancras New Church after tube and bus bombings 7 July 2005, London, England

Tributes in Hyde Park, London, after an IRA bomb caused the death of four soldiers and seven horses on their way to Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace on 20 July 1982 (Numerous soldiers and spectators were injured)

Tributes to Bobby Moore on the gates of Upton Park, ground of West Ham United in E London, when he died in 1993 (He was captain of the club 1961-74 and England when they won the World Cup in 1966)

Tributes outside St James’s Palace in London following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997

In the Mall, London, at the funeral of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 6 September 1997

A sea of tributes at Kensington Palace, London, following the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997

A London pavement artist cashing in on the death of Diana, Princess of Wales, on 31 August 1997