The moat at the Tower of London is to be filled with almost 900,000 poppies to mark the centenary of the start of WWI.
From August 5 to November 11, the dry moat will be turned into a sea of red, with one large ceramic poppy for each of the 888,246 British soldiers killed during the war.
Each of the poppies will be available to buy for £25 once they have been taken down in November. If all of them are sold it will raise £15 million to be distributed between six armed forces charities including Help For Heroes and the Royal British Legion.
General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said: “We want it to be epic and also personal. It will be an amazing sight. The poppies will completely fill the moat all the way round.
“The Tower played its part in the war, and 1,600 men swore their oath of allegiance in the moat in August 1914, so it is a fitting location. I hope this will be the iconic image of this summer.”
Tower of London moat to become 'sea of poppies' to mark WW1 centenary
Almost 900,000 ceramic poppies - one for each British fatality of the war - being hand-made in Derby for 'epic' installation
The moat at the Tower of London will be filled with almost 900,000 ceramic poppies this summer to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War Photo: REX FEATURES
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter
07 May 2014
The Telegraph
One of the 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British soldier killed in the conflict
The moat of the Tower of London will be filled with almost 900,000 ceramic poppies this summer to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War.
From August 5 to November 11, the dry moat will be turned into a sea of red, with one poppy for each of the 888,246 British soldiers killed during the war.
The poppies are being hand-made by 50 potters at the Derby studio of Paul Cummins, who was asked to make the installation by Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that runs the Tower.
Each of the poppies will be available to buy for £25 once they have been taken down in November. If all of them are sold it will raise £15 million to be distributed between six armed forces charities including Help For Heroes and the Royal British Legion.
General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said: “We want it to be epic and also personal. It will be an amazing sight. The poppies will completely fill the moat all the way round.
“The Tower played its part in the war, and 1,600 men swore their oath of allegiance in the moat in August 1914, so it is a fitting location. I hope this will be the iconic image of this summer.”
Up to £15 million could be raised for armed forces charities such as Help for Heroes
The installation, called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, has been designed by Tom Piper, an Olivier Award-winning theatre designer who is currently attached to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He said: “In terms of pure logistics, we worked out that it would take one person three and a half years to install all the poppies, so we are using 150 volunteers who will do it in two weeks.
“We have worked out that we need 50 poppies per square metre, across 16 acres of moat.
“When you think of it in terms of pure logistics it can get very mechanical, but when you consider that each of these poppies will represent a life it becomes very poignant.”
Mr Cummins, who usually makes ceramic flowers as garden ornaments, explained that he took the title of the installation from a will made in the trenches by an unnamed soldier from his own home town of Derby.
He said: “Soldiers had to make wills because in those days if they didn’t their property would not be passed on to their loved ones.
“I read through an archive of the wills and came across one written by a man who said everyone he knew had been killed. He wrote of ‘blood swept lands and seas of red, where angels dare to tread’.
“It read like a poem and it just seemed to fit.”
Mr Cummins and his helpers, who have made around half a million poppies so far, are using only techniques available to potters during the First World War. It means each poppy will be individual and unique.
As part of the installation a mound will also be created in the moat from which the Last Post will be sounded at dusk every day, preceded by the reading of a selection of names of those who died.
Relatives of the dead will be able to request that the name of their ancestor is read out on a particular day so they can be there to pay their respects. The 888,246 British casualties died between the outbreak of war on Aug 4, 1914, and Aug 31, 1921, the date used by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as the cut-off point for military personnel whose deaths from injuries are counted as First World War fatalities.
Details of how to buy poppies will be published nearer the time at Find Out About Historic Royal Palaces, Official Site.
Tower of London moat to become 'sea of poppies' to mark WW1 centenary - Telegraph
From August 5 to November 11, the dry moat will be turned into a sea of red, with one large ceramic poppy for each of the 888,246 British soldiers killed during the war.
Each of the poppies will be available to buy for £25 once they have been taken down in November. If all of them are sold it will raise £15 million to be distributed between six armed forces charities including Help For Heroes and the Royal British Legion.
General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said: “We want it to be epic and also personal. It will be an amazing sight. The poppies will completely fill the moat all the way round.
“The Tower played its part in the war, and 1,600 men swore their oath of allegiance in the moat in August 1914, so it is a fitting location. I hope this will be the iconic image of this summer.”
Tower of London moat to become 'sea of poppies' to mark WW1 centenary
Almost 900,000 ceramic poppies - one for each British fatality of the war - being hand-made in Derby for 'epic' installation
By Gordon Rayner, Chief Reporter
07 May 2014
The Telegraph
One of the 888,246 ceramic poppies, one for each British soldier killed in the conflict
The moat of the Tower of London will be filled with almost 900,000 ceramic poppies this summer to mark the 100th anniversary of the beginning of the First World War.
From August 5 to November 11, the dry moat will be turned into a sea of red, with one poppy for each of the 888,246 British soldiers killed during the war.
The poppies are being hand-made by 50 potters at the Derby studio of Paul Cummins, who was asked to make the installation by Historic Royal Palaces, the charity that runs the Tower.
Each of the poppies will be available to buy for £25 once they have been taken down in November. If all of them are sold it will raise £15 million to be distributed between six armed forces charities including Help For Heroes and the Royal British Legion.
General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said: “We want it to be epic and also personal. It will be an amazing sight. The poppies will completely fill the moat all the way round.
“The Tower played its part in the war, and 1,600 men swore their oath of allegiance in the moat in August 1914, so it is a fitting location. I hope this will be the iconic image of this summer.”
Up to £15 million could be raised for armed forces charities such as Help for Heroes
The installation, called Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red, has been designed by Tom Piper, an Olivier Award-winning theatre designer who is currently attached to the Royal Shakespeare Company.
He said: “In terms of pure logistics, we worked out that it would take one person three and a half years to install all the poppies, so we are using 150 volunteers who will do it in two weeks.
“We have worked out that we need 50 poppies per square metre, across 16 acres of moat.
“When you think of it in terms of pure logistics it can get very mechanical, but when you consider that each of these poppies will represent a life it becomes very poignant.”
Mr Cummins, who usually makes ceramic flowers as garden ornaments, explained that he took the title of the installation from a will made in the trenches by an unnamed soldier from his own home town of Derby.
He said: “Soldiers had to make wills because in those days if they didn’t their property would not be passed on to their loved ones.
“I read through an archive of the wills and came across one written by a man who said everyone he knew had been killed. He wrote of ‘blood swept lands and seas of red, where angels dare to tread’.
“It read like a poem and it just seemed to fit.”
Mr Cummins and his helpers, who have made around half a million poppies so far, are using only techniques available to potters during the First World War. It means each poppy will be individual and unique.
As part of the installation a mound will also be created in the moat from which the Last Post will be sounded at dusk every day, preceded by the reading of a selection of names of those who died.
Relatives of the dead will be able to request that the name of their ancestor is read out on a particular day so they can be there to pay their respects. The 888,246 British casualties died between the outbreak of war on Aug 4, 1914, and Aug 31, 1921, the date used by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission as the cut-off point for military personnel whose deaths from injuries are counted as First World War fatalities.
Details of how to buy poppies will be published nearer the time at Find Out About Historic Royal Palaces, Official Site.
Tower of London moat to become 'sea of poppies' to mark WW1 centenary - Telegraph
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