Shrewsbury School Old Boys' memorial

Shrewsbury School was founded in 1552 by a Royal Charter and today is one the country's leading independent boarding schools. Its main war memorial stands at the meeting place of all the avenues leading from the School. At its centre is a bronze, life-size statue of Sir Philip Sidney (one of the school’s alumni) on a large rectangular plinth and in military costume, dressed as he would have been when he was fatally wounded during the Battle of Zutphen in 1586. The front face of the pedestal incorporates a relief of a battle scene from the First World War and below it the school coat of arms. The rear of the pedestal is decorated with a picture of the battlefield at Zutphen and the remaining two sides are inscribed with the names of Old Boys of the school who died during the First World War. Architect of the whole memorial was Brook Taylor Kitchin, an Old Salopian whose son was killed in action in France at the age of 18. The sculptor was Arthur George Walker (also responsible for the memorial statue in Ironbridge). To achieve a greater likeness, Walker visited Penhurst House in Kent, the ancestral home of the Sidney family, at the invitation of Lord de L’isle, one of his descendents. 

Shrewsbury School

There, he was able to study various portraits and miniatures of Sidney, as well as the sword, helmet and armour which he wore at Zutphen. 

When the memorial was unveiled on 24^th May 1924, Lord de L’isle was present and the Burgmeister of Zutphen laid a wreath. Walker was born on 20^th October 1861 in London. Despite undertaking some important and well-known commissions however, little seems to be known about his life. He entered the Royal Academy Schools in 1883 and his early sculptural work including some interesting mythological figures, but later work consisted mainly of portrait busts and ecclesiastical memorials. He is perhaps best known for his statue of Florence Nightingale in Waterloo Place, London (1910). His other work includes another monument to her in St Paul’s, the figures of William Morris and Roger Payne for the Victoria and Albert Museum, a First World War memorial in Derby (as well as that at Shrewsbury), and figures of the Virgin and Child in Llandaff and Wells Cathedrals. He exhibited more than 80 works at the Royal Academy between 1884 and 1937 and died two years later.

In 1948 a low stone wall was erected, partly surrounding the Sidney memorial, inscribed with the names of Old Salopians who died during the Second World War.

Shrewsbury School war memorial