The Civil Servant and Public Remembrance: Sir Lionel Earle and the Shaping of London's Commemorative Landscape, 1918–19331

The erection of First World War memorials in London was a complex and bureaucratically contested process, requiring the mediation of officials charged with enforcing Victorian government legislation designed to protect the aesthetic and didactic role of public statuary in the metropolis. By concentrating on the role and views of the senior civil servant who more than any other individual was responsible for enabling the re-shaping London's commemorative landscape in the inter-war years, this article highlights the significant intersection of aesthetic and practical concerns in memorial planning and implementation.