Charles George Gordon

Major-General Gordon was lionised as a British war hero after his death at the end of the Siege of Khartoum in January 1885. The statue was made in 1887–88. Gordon's brother, Sir Henry Gordon, advised Thornycroft to minimise the military character of the statue, and emphasis Gordon's qualities of strength of mind, love, kindness and affection. The original statue in London was first unveiled in Trafalgar Square on 16 October 1888 without a formal ceremony. It was sited halfway between the two fountains in Trafalgar Square, standing on a 18 ft high pedestal. The statue was removed from Trafalgar Square in 1943 and moved to the grounds of Mentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire. In a speech in the…

The larger than life size statue depicts the British Army officer Charles George Gordon standing in his army uniform, carrying a cane and a bible, with his head resting on his raised right hand, and his left foot resting on a broken cannon. The plinth of Portland stone bears inscriptions and two bronze plaques, one on each side. The main inscription in the stone on the front of the plinth reads: "CHARLES G. GORDON C.B. / MAJOR-GEN. ROYAL ENGINEERS // KILLED AT KHARTOUM / XXVI JANUARY / MDCCCLXXXV". Further inscriptions on the stone plinth list his actions, clockwise from the south front: "CRIMEA 1855 N CHINA 1864 / QUINSAN SOOCHOW / SOUDAN KHARTOUM / GRAVESEND EQUATOR". These inscriptions…