A bronze statue of a young boy stands on top of a pedstalled and coved rectangular block of limestone which has all four sides carrying the names of the fallen of West Downs School, Winchester. The last of the WWI names, Lionel Helbert, was one of the founders of the school in 1897. An independent preparatory school, it closed its doors in 1988. Alongside the memorial is a plaque with the following caption:
This Memorial to boys formerly at
West Downs School at Winchester
who gave their lives in two
World Wars is placed here because
Sir Peter Scott was a pupil there
and his mother was the sculptor.
The school has now closed.
The memorial was moved to Slimbridge when the school closed. Sir Peter Scott's mother was the noted sculptor Kathleen Scott, Baroness Kennet. The WWI side bears thirty-eight names underneath a memorial caption:
HERE AM I
SEND ME
1914 - 1918
J.F.C.Batten A.H.Blacklock
A.H.Bowman G.H.Broadhurst
A.C.Burnell H.G.de Lisle Bush
R.C.Chichester G.R.G.Child
H.P.Cotton C.Cottrell-Dormer
C.M.Cottrell-Dormer B.P.U.Duff
G.F.Farmiloe G.R.A.Fetherstonhaugh
R.C.Fetherstonhaugh V.F.S.French
I.C.Gascoigne R.C.Grant
R.P.Hankinson M.Heaton Ellis
C.M.Hoare G.R.Holland Martin
C.Mackeson J.M.McKenna
M.R.H.Morley W.R.Morton
P.F.Payne-Gallwey G.W.Pigott
F.R.Seely M.A.Somerville
H.O.D.Stowell R.W.Strange
E.W.Tennant G.C.S.Tennant
E.J.Watson Smyth G.Yeatherd
W.R.Kirby Lionel Helbert
The names of the fallen of WWII are on three sides of the memorial in alphabetical order moving round to the right. There are eighty-one names on the three panels:
1939 - 1945
R.D.Ackers
R.P.Alderson
F.E.Allhusen
P.C.McC.Banister
J.F.Banister
F.Barchard
C.R.Barnett
H.T.de la P.Beresford
W.D.Blacker
E.F.V.Boscawen
P.J.S.Boyle
J.C.Carver
Chichester
M.V.Christie-Miller
H.A.A.Clogstoun
T.P.Cokayne
* T.P.Coode
P.E.G.Coode
H.C.Corbett
P.B.Cornwallis
H.T.Crispin
N.J.Crossley
D.H.de Burgh
C.de Lisle Bush
A.R.A.Dorrien-Smith
J.E.Fass
C.G.Ford
* Lt. Commander Trevenen Penrose Coode, of 818 Naval Air Squadron, helped sink the Bismarck;
M.G.Foster
V.P.Gibbs
J.R.Gillespie
B.D.Grimston
P.T.de la G.Grissell
J.M.Hargreaves
A.Hargreaves Brown
H.G.Hargreaves Brown
J.Hichens
K.P.Hoare
C.G.A.Leechman
G.B.Leechman
L.Lee Pyman
P.N.Loxley
I.Lyon
C.A.Macdonald
G.E.Makins
G.S.Manuel
J.Marden
E.J.B.Martin
C.T.Milnes Gaskell
H.M.Moger
W.D.S.Montagu
C.A.L.Morse
T.M.Napier
M.P.O'Brian
O.Neill
B.A.O'Neill
D.F.W.Parish
J.N.W.Parish
A.Phipps
J.Pigott-Brown
P.A.Raikes
P.P.Raikes
J.R.Rathbone
H.Reynell-Pack
G.Rhys Williams
G.D.K.Richards
W.S.Selby-Lowndes
D.B.Sinclair
G.H.G.Smith-Dorrien
P.L.Smith-Dorrien
E.J.Spooner
H.J.Stephenson
N.J.M.Teacher
** A.R.D.Twysden
J.L.Tyldesley-Jones
A.J.B.Van de Weyer
R.L.Westmacott
M.S.Willan
J.M.M.Wood
H.L.C.Woolley
C.A.Wynne-Jones
P. Wynne-Jones
** Sir Anthony Roger Duncan Twysden, 11th Bt.
More pupil information and information on the Helbert family can be found here:
West Downs School
The statue is entitled 'Here Am I, Send Me', a quotation from Isaiah ch6,vv8, 'And I heard the voice of the Lord, saying, Whom shall I send, and who will go for us? Then I said, Here am I; send me.' It is erroneously held to be modelled on Peter Scott. In his auto-biography (The Eye of the Wind pages 52-3) it states:
“The model for this statue had been an Italian boy, the son of Fiorni, the caster who for many years cast all her bronzes. I had never posed for it, and it was not at all like me, but it was useless to say so. It was (and I believe still is) widely held to be me.”
There is a second bronze at Oundle School, a prep school which Sir Peter also attended, with the same title, it comes from a second cast made of the original.
The memorial may be seen at any time during opening hours of the centre which are currently 9.30am to 5.00pm - last admission 4pm. Admission charges are, Adult £10.35, Concession (65+, full-time students, unemployed) £7.95, Child (4-16 years) £5.60. Family rates also apply. Members, children under 4 years, and essential disability helpers are free.
Thanks go to Dave Rowley for the additional information included in this posting.