Summary

A commemorative monument to the fallen crew of HMS Boadicea during her campaign of 1879-82.

Description

A commemorative monument to the fallen crew of HMS Boadicea during her campaign of 1879-82.

MATERIALS: pink granite and limestone with wrought iron railings.

DESCRIPTION: an obelisk and pedestal upon on a dressed granite plinth surrounded by low iron railings with stylised foliate enrichment. The four faces of the base have inscriptions in applied metal lettering. The principal face states ‘IN MEMORY OF THE / OFFICERS, SEAMEN, MARINES, KROOMEN OF / HMS BOADICEA / COMMODORE SIR FW RICHARDS, KCB / WHO WERE KILLED IN ACTION OR DIED OF WOUNDS / DISEASE OR ACCIDENT DURING HER COMMISSION / ON THE CAPE OF GOOD HOPE / AND WEST COAST OF AFRICA STATION / 1878 – 1882 / ERECTED BY THEIR SHIPMATES’. The other three faces provide names of victims of the conflict and descriptions of their fates.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 16 June 2017.

History

An obelisk was constructed at the Royal Naval Cemetery at Haslar to commemorate the fallen who sailed with HMS Boadicea between 1879 and 1882 during her commission to the Cape of Good Hope and West Africa. The Boadicea delivered 16 officers and 378 men under Commodore Francis Romilly to supplement the Naval Brigade at the Battle of Gingindlovu, one of the bloodiest clashes of the Zulu Wars. The ship then assisted in the first Boer War. The memorial is to those ‘officers, seamen, marines and Kroomen’ who were killed in action and died of diseases during the campaigns; the dedication to Kroomen is unusual, and commemorates those African sailors recruited into the Royal Navy to act as guides.

Reasons for Listing

The memorial to HMS Boadicea is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: it commemorates the lives of the crews of the HMS Boadicea that were lost in the ship’s campaigns, as well as the African Kroomen, recruited by the British as guides;
* Architectural interest: a good-quality monument in rich materials, and retaining its cast iron rails;
* Group value: for its place in the Royal Naval Cemetery and its relationship with the other listed memorials and the cemetery chapel, and within the wider naval landscapes of Haslar, Gosport and Portsmouth.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q26677419

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

Recommended Books

• 
  Hertfordshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cambridgeshire (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Cornwall (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Oxfordshire: North and West (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Specifications for Building Conservation: Volume 1: External Structure: Practical Examples v. 2
• 
  Harrow on the Hill: A photographic portrayal of listed buildings and structures (Historic Buildings Picture Guides)