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Bust

Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Erection date: 1878

These two must be Somerset and Raglan but which is which we can't tell you.

Site: Hyde Park Barracks - busts (3 memorials)

SW7, Kengsinton Road, Hyde Park Barracks - Officers' Mess

Inside this building on the upper-ground floor there are 4 busts - 2 in the foyer area at the entrance from the pavement (at the west) and 2 in the foyer area at the entrance from the car-park (at the east). From South Carriage Drive one has a very clear view - of their backs. From the front, Kensington Road, by going up the steps and peering in through the railings one can see the 2 at the west but they are in deep shadow, hence our less than excellent photos. We can just read their identifying plaques and Hill is on the left (west) of Londonderry. The 2 on the east cannot be seen from the front at all so we have used their back view.

Also from South Carriage Drive one can see, in the car-park entrance, a horse's head on a pedastal, but no explanatory plaque is visible. We're guessing it also came off the old building and that it does not represent a particular horse (important for us since if it did we'd treat it as a memorial and try and find out which horse.)

From : "Separated from the maisonettes {to the east} by a narrow space is the Officers' Mess, also built over a car-park. The main entrance hall is at upper-ground level, and beyond its glass walls and doors are placed the stone busts of Somerset, Raglan, Londonderry and Hill from the park front of the former officers' quarters, mounted on tall plinths (Plate 45a, 45c). Never having been designed to be seen at such close quarters, they have a rather startlingly crude appearance, with little differentiation in their features beyond the varying length of their sideburns."

And from (describing the previous building): "The park façade was the most ornate of all the elevations of the three main blocks, with the greatest concentration of sculptured decoration. As on the Knightsbridge front, the centrepiece was tightly proportioned. A bow window on the ground floor, with a balcony over, was flanked by an attractive garden terrace (Plate 41b). Carved portrait heads of former army commanders – Wellington, Marlborough, Combermere, Anglesey and Oxford – gazed from laurelwreathed niches over the bow window. Busts of four more military worthies – Somerset, Raglan, Londonderry and Hill – perched on brackets on the wall to either side. These last have been preserved in the officers' mess of the present barracks (Plate 45a, ) {and have since been moved to the foyer}." have a photo of the building which shows the bow window and you can see the busts, as described.

For the history of the three incarnations of these barracks see Hyde Park Barracks.

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This section lists the subjects commemorated on the memorial on this page:
Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Subjects commemorated i

Lord Raglan

FitzRoy Somerset, 1st Baron Raglan. Commander in the Crimean War 1853 - 56. I...

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Lord Edward Somerset

Soldier and elder brother of Lord Raglan. From Wikivividly : "... in 1815 th...

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This section lists the other memorials at the same location as the memorial on this page:
Hyde Park Barracks - Somerset and Raglan

Also at this site i

Hyde Park Barracks - Hill

Hyde Park Barracks - Hill

{On a small brass plaque attached to the plinth:} Hill

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Hyde Park Barracks - Londonderry

Hyde Park Barracks - Londonderry

{On a small brass plaque attached to the plinth:} Londonderry

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Nearby Memorials

Caxton Hall - head 8 - unidentified

Caxton Hall - head 8 - unidentified

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The foundation stone is low down at the right hand side of the building. Above each of the two statues is a bust, both of the Greek god v...

Thomas Grenville

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This bust is a 20th-century replica after G. B. Comolli, 19th century.

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Wimbledon Library - Milton

Wimbledon Library - Milton

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Canon Mortlock

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Ipernity informs that this was set up as a memorial of Canon Mortlock, a head carved in 1936, long before his death in 1967, by Epstein.

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Warrington Hotel - Bach bust

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The busts are on the Randolph Avenue elevation, at first floor level. We've numbered them left to right. The listing text mentions the bu...

1 subject commemorated