A lone, six-foot high silhouette of a World War 1 soldier has been installed at Stamford’s Burghley House as a moving tribute to men from the Estate who perished during the 1914-1918 war.
As part of national centenary commemorations, England’s greatest Elizabethan house is remembering its own fallen, as well as supporting the national ‘There But Not There’ campaign, by placing the sculpture – which rises from a cluster of red poppies – in front of the historic house.
‘There But Not There’ aims to educate all generations about why so many made the ultimate sacrifice, and to raise funds to help heal those suffering from the hidden wounds of war.
Described as the defining centenary commemoration for the end of the 1914-1918 war, the striking sculptures have been installed where the men and women came from across the country, back in the communities they left behind.
For Burghley, the life-size silhouette commemorates three of its own who lost their lives in the calamitous conflict that lasted four years, three months and 14 days:
Burghley gardeners Harry John Payne, who died on July 28,1915, and Private Victor Barrett, who died on December 20, 1915, both of the 7th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment; and Burghley Saw Mill employee Private Herbert Miles, of the 6th Battalion Lincolnshire Regiment, who died on August 9,1915.
As Britain prepares to commemorate Armistice Day and Remembrance Sunday, on November 11, 2018, marking the day the First World War ended 100 years ago, organisers hope that people will spend a moment in quiet contemplation beside the sculptures remembering all those who gave their lives as well as the countless grieving families left behind.
During the Great War, Burghley House also became a convalescent hospital for injured soldiers and a home for Belgian refugees.
Photo: ‘There But Not There’ at Burghley by Chrissi Baker
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