Postman's Park

A few years ago I was completing a City and Guilds Sketchbook Studies course and we had to work on our final book using architecture as our inspiration. I'd read about Mary Seton Watts and the work she'd done with local people at Compton in Surrey to build Watts Chapel during the Arts and Crafts period so went to have a look. I was blown away and if you've never heard of it do a search and have a look at the images online. I mention it because Mary was the second wife of the painter George Frederick Watts. I did not know much about him until a chance TV programme last week told the story of Postman's Park and his involvement with it. Of course, since then, I've been intrigued and obsessed with the story and have already read as much as I can find about it. It's a great story - and a very British one!



In September 1887, G F Watts wrote a letter to the Times with a suggestion for commemorating Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee. He suggested erecting a monument to commemorate 'heroism in everyday life'. Thirteen years later this was realised with the unveiling of the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice in a small public park in the shadow of St Paul's Cathedral. Because of its proximity to the General Post Office it was used by postmen during their breaks and hence it became known as Postman's Park.

The monument consists of a wooden cloister, tiled with plaques commemorating those unsung heroes of civilian life. Orignally they were made by William de Morgan but after his business failed they were fired by Doultons in Lambeth. They are not as good as the originals but it is the memorials themselves that tug at my heart strings. Watts chose the people and wrote the first memorials himself, sadly dying when only a handful had been erected.

Mary took up the project after his death but she eventually phased out her involvement. Today there are sixty one plaques in Postman's Park, the last one being put up in 1931, even though it commemorated the death of Herbert Maconoghu in 1882. The site is now Grade 2 listed so it is unlikely there will ever be any other names added . Those that are there are a mix of men, women and children, each of whom gave up their life to save another. The descriptions on the plaques refer to terrible events like fires, boating accidents, drownings and fatalities on the railways.

These simple statements tell of great sacrifice; of brothers and sisters rescuing siblings, parents saving children and doctors saving lives but it's mainly strangers giving their life to save someone unknown to them. It is hard to read these plaques without a sense of loss. Perhaps it is also because they are 'of their time'. They are so poignant and just make me want to know more about the people they commemorate. My husband and I have now planned a week in London this Spring as I have to go and see Postman's Park for myself. I also have to revisit Watts Chapel and then go to the Watts Gallery nearby and find out more about this philanthropic man.

I've said before that I have a fascination for memorials and the way we mark remembrance but it's not everyone's cup of tea so I've only included a few of the plaques found via Google images.The one that touched me the most though was the only one that included a spoken word:

Solomon Galaman, aged 11, died of injuries, September 6 1901, after saving his little brother from being run over in Commercial Street. 'Mother, I saved him but I could not save myself '.

Heartrending.