The Monument Site
A central London site was donated by Westminster City
Council for the Monument. The site is based on an existing panelled
granite structure 25 metres long. This structure was originally
designed as a smoke outlet for underground trains when they were
powered by steam engines. It had been filled up and blocked for
many years.
Click to enlarge any of the
photos above
The site is located on the Victoria Embankment (north side
of the river Thames) between the RAF memorial (the one with the
big eagle wings) and Westminster bridge / Big Ben. It is opposite
the London Eye ("The wheel").
The pictures show the pre-Monument state of the site from various
directions in June 2004. The scaffolding that can be seen is
part of a test drilling into the core before construction began.
Click here for directions to the
Monument site
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Click to enlarge the original
Paul Day drawings below
A walkway has been cut obliquely through the middle of the
structure and bronze reliefs, depicting aspects of the Battle
in the air and the back-up on the ground, are featured along
either side.
Bronze plaques holding in raised relief the names and ranks of
the airmen who took part in the Battle are mounted around the outside
of the monument with the airmen's names grouped under their respective
countries.
The plaques also incorporate a short description of events,
the badges of the Fighter Command squadrons involved and, facing the RAF Memorial,
the Badge of Fighter Command.
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