This 'Tommy' soldier from World War One is facing in completely the opposite direction to when he was first put up on this structure, the Borough War Memorial in Stafford. He used to face the railway station - but when the law courts were built in the way, he was turned around, and now faces St Mary's, the town's large parish church.
One wonders why he was built facing the station, and not the church, originally. It could be that the huge County War Memorial is by the station; was he meant to be saluting that?
The story comes from the fascinating booklet Researching Memorials by Staffordshire Archives.
There is a statue of Queen Victoria in Reading that faces the Railway, some say it is that way because she was snubbed at the town and has her back to it looks to the Railway as the way home
ReplyDeleteHaha! What a great story...!
DeleteI would think your notion of the memorial's location being the reason would be likely. Excellent composition!
ReplyDelete