Bank of England War Memorial

A memorial committee of long-serving bank staff was established in November 1918 to raise funds for a war memorial. Suggestions were made to spend the funds on a variety of different projects, such as a memorial chapel, a memorial library and hall, almshouses, the endowment of university scholarships, or a stained glass window at a nearby church. The committee decided on three memorials: a memorial service at Southwark Cathedral on 12 April 1919, endowing a bed at Guy's Hospital, and commissioning a memorial cross at the bank. These plans were approved by the bank's court of directors. After initially donating £1,000 in June 1919 to fund a bed at Astley Cooper Ward, a surgical accident ward…

Goulden's lifesize bronze statue portrays a man standing on a rock, carrying a child on his shoulder. They man and child are holding hands, with the man wearing only a loincloth, and the child similarly naked. The group represents Saint Christopher at the edge of a stream, carrying the Christ Child. An inscription around the bottom of the rock reads: <small>TO THE COMRADES / WHO, AT DUTY'S CALL, CROSSED THE DARK WATERS TO / THE FURTHER SHORE 1914–1919</small>. The sculpture is mounted on a large rectangular block of Portland stone as a plinth, on three stone steps. Set into the front of the plinth is a bronze cross, and the other three sides of the plinth each bear a bronze plaque listing…