"The sculpture was originally situated in Liverpool’s Cotton Exchange Building.
The statue was commissioned by the Liverpool Cotton Association in 1921 to commemorate those men who went from the association to The Great War and The World War.
In December 2011 The International Cotton Association (formerly the Liverpool Cotton Association) relocated to new premises in Walker House on Exchange Flags, the spot where cotton was first traded in the open air in the 1800s.
“It was always our intention to bring the soldier with us,” says Kai Hughes, ICA Managing Director. “It was no easy task, it took a long time and it would not have been possible without the help and advice we received from National Museums Liverpool and Liverpool City Council for which we are very grateful.”
Having once stood in a quiet corner off Old Hall Street, the ICA is delighted with the soldier’s new location: “Many more people will get to see and appreciate him,” says Hughes. “We will also continue the tradition of laying a poppy wreath at the soldiers feet on Remembrance Day and we hope that the new location will enable more people to take part in the ceremony.”
The ICA’s links with Liverpool date as far back as the mid-1700s when the first-ever cotton auction in Liverpool was recorded. The ICA was officially formed in 1841 and has been at the forefront of the city's business networks for over 170 years.
Conservation of the sculpture is still pending. A new plaque was commissioned and installed on 8th November 2013. The plaque wording is based on that of the previous plaque that accompanied the sculpture at the Cotton Exchange building. A bayonet formed part of the original design but after numerous thefts, no further replacement was made."
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The memorial sculpture is Grade II listed. The description given by Historic England reads as follows;
"SummaryFirst World War memorial sculpture by Francis Derwent Wood, 1922. Re-located 2011.
Reasons for DesignationThe Liverpool Cotton Association War Memorial, which stands beside Walker House, Exchange Flags, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this important Liverpool institution, and the sacrifice it has made in the First World War; * Sculptural interest: a detailed and sensitive life-sized bronze of a resolute infantryman by noted sculptor F Derwent Wood RA; * Group value: with Exchange Buildings (Grade II), the Nelson Monument (Grade II*), the Town Hall (Grade I), and a number of other Grade II-listed features, and within the Liverpool - Maritime Mercantile City World Heritage Site.
HistoryThe aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across England. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.
One such memorial was raised by the Liverpool Cotton Association as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by those of its members who lost their lives in the First World War. Some 2,500 members had enlisted, of whom 358 who died are commemorated by the memorial. The sculpture of an infantryman, by Francis Derwent Wood (1871-1926), was erected on a tall stone pedestal to the front of the colonnade of the Liverpool Cotton Exchange, fronting Old Hall Street. It was unveiled on 5 April 1922 by Field Marshal Earl Haig, and dedicated by the Bishop of Liverpool, Dr FJ Chavasse. The commemorated names were listed on a large plaque in the colonnade.
The Old Hall Street façade of the Exchange building was demolished and the statue moved into the courtyard space of the re-modelled site. The soldier’s bayonet is lost. In December 2011 the International Cotton Association (formerly the Liverpool Cotton Association) relocated to new premises in Walker House on Exchange Flags, taking the statue and erecting it on Exchange Flags outside Exchange Buildings (Grade II-listed). Cotton had been traded on Exchange Flags since 1808. A new bronze plaque, installed on 8 November 2013, records the memorial dedication.
Francis Derwent Wood RA (1871-1926), a prominent exponent of the New Sculpture, was best-known for his mythological figural works and portrait sculpture, steeped in classical and Renaissance inspiration. During the First World War he volunteered in a London hospital, and from 1917 worked from his special clinic in Wandsworth, creating prosthetic masks for disfigured ex-servicemen to wear in order to disguise their wounds. He became Professor of Sculpture at the Royal College of Art from 1918-1923. Among his other works is the Machine Gun Corps Memorial, London, which is Grade II*-listed.
List Entry Number:1442272" SOURCE: (
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