Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone
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The Conscientious Objectors Stone is on the north side of Tavistock Square, Bloomsbury, in the London Borough of Camden.
In 1994 a stone commemorating "men and women conscientious objectors all over the world and in every age" by Hugh Court[1] was unveiled in Tavistock Square.
Erection
The erection of this massive slate stone to commemorate the struggle of conscientious objectors past and present was coordinated by the Peace Pledge Union (PPU) and unveiled by Sir Michael Tippett, President of the PPU and a former Conscientious Objector, on the 15th May 1994 in Tavistock Square.
History
The idea of having a stone dedicated to conscientious objectors (COs) to war began in 1976 at the funeral of a conscientious objector, Joseph Brett, who had been imprisoned in 1916. Bill McIlroy, then Secretary of the National Secular Society (NSS), officiated and happened to remark that perhaps one day COs will be commemorated, as service personnel are, both nationally and locally in the places where they lived.
In 1981 the GLC Labour Group accepted the idea and the Greater London Regional Labour Party agreed. But when, after the abolition of the GLC, the London Residuary Board took over the GLC’s contracts and agreements, the commitment to a commemorative stone dedicated to the COs was lost. A GLC member, Edna Mathieson, niece of Joseph Brett, approached Lambeth Council for help and Lambeth initiated a competition in all London art schools for a piece of sculpture commemorating COs. This was to be set up next to County Hall (the GLC's headquarters), which was situated in Lambeth. Unfortunately Lambeth then found that, because of spending cuts, it could not afford to finance such a monument.
The PPU now stepped in, agreed to help with finances and contacted Camden Council (its local council) for permission to erect a stone in Tavistock Square.
Granite was the intended material, as it is the strongest stone – symbolic of those who refused against the odds to fight. However, when the PPU’s archivist and Camden’s architect went to Cumbria in search of a granite stone, they were so attracted to a nicely shaped piece of grey-green slate, some 400 million years old, that they chose that instead.
The PPU decided upon the form of words for the stone with an addition of “Their foresight and courage give us hope”, written by a Dublin wordsmith.
Annual act of remembrance
In 1996 Mathieson pressed for the rest of Bill McIlroy's idea to be implemented - an annual event, so that the commemoration of COs be as similar as possible to the commemoration of service personnel. A planning group was established at a Conway Hall meeting (in the Bertrand Russell Room) and Jess Hodgkins, a Unitarian, suggested the group be called the Right to Refuse to Kill Group (RRK). Ever since there has been an annual memorial event every year at noon on May 15th, the date considered to be International Conscientious Objectors Day.
Inscriptions
Around the left, top, and right edges:
TO COMMEMORATE MEN & WOMEN CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS TO MILITARY SERVICE ALL OVER THE WORLD & IN EVERY AGE
In the centre:
TO ALL THOSE WHO HAVE ESTABLISHED AND ARE MAINTAINING THE RIGHT TO REFUSE TO KILL
Their foresight and courage give us hope
Along the bottom edge:
THIS STONE WAS DEDICATED ON 15 MAY 1994 INTERNATIONAL CONSCIENTIOUS OBJECTORS' DAY
Nearby related public art
Also in Tavistock Square is a statue of Mahatma Gandhi, sculpted by Fredda Brilliant and installed in 1968 and a cherry tree planted in 1967 in memory of the victims of the nuclear bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
With the Conscientious Objectors Commemorative Stone, the three features have led to the square unofficially being regarded by some as a peace park or garden. Annual ceremonies are held at each of these memorials including International Conscientious Objectors Day on 15th May.
See also
References
External links
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Wikisource has original text related to this article: |
- International Conscientious Objectors' Day (War Resisters' International)
- Map sources and aerial photos.
Coordinates: 51°31′31″N 0°07′46″W / 51.525361°N 0.129528°W
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