….Into the Peace

….into the Peace © Crown Copyright Souvenir Guide An exhibition showing how the Royal Parks and Royal Hospital Chelsea were used during wartime, and their progress …. into the peace. Wren House, Royal Hospital Chelsea Royal Hospital Road, London SW3 4SR Friday 29 to Sunday 31 March 2019 Supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund Compiled by Richard Flenley, David Ivison and Claire Ivison, and published by The Royal Parks Guild Introduction This exhibition explains a journey which started with the Royal Parks Guild and The Royal Parks coming together in 2014 to mark 100 years since World War I and its impact on London’s most famous parks. Providentially, working links with the Royal Hospital have enriched the activities for all, and revealed additional and interwoven stories. The course of that journey was unknown and uncertain both into the war in 1914 and into commemoration in 2014. Fortunately, and with the assistance of the National Lottery Heritage Fund, it has been possible to research, recall, re-enact and pass on some of the many ways in which the Royal Parks served King and country through the course of the war. © Todd Langstaff-Gowan / Robin Forster Our starting point in 2014 was the lack of information regarding how many of the Royal Parks staff went off to war and how many lost their lives during four years of conflict. Research carried out by the Royal Parks Guild has been at the core of this project, both in finding out about the ‘Band of Brothers’ who died and the role of the Royal Parks on the home front. A programme The trench at the Hampton Court of activities was devised to remember the tragic Palace Flower Show 2018 loss of life and highlight the parks’ significant contribution to the war effort. The project has developed and found a wide range of contacts and partnerships, not least with the Royal Hospital Chelsea, Historic Royal Palaces and English Heritage to promote events and workshops on these related themes of World War I. The simple story of “finding the names” has expanded to involve many interests, groups and volunteers. The journey of the memorial stone, which records the names of the 24 Royal Parks employees who died, has itself been fascinating with many links and connections opened up; including contact with some of the families descended from the men who did not return. The memorial stone, itself a contribution from the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, was presented as part of the World War I trench landscape exhibit at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show in July 2018. Then in armistice week of November 2018 it was taken to Brompton Cemetery, also managed by The Royal Parks, and installed in the east colonnade with due dignity and dedication. Thus, the project has brought together friends, families, supporters and participant organisations and volunteers for the wider The Chelsea Pensioners memorial at understanding of all. Brompton Cemetery 2018 2 The tour Here in Wren House, kindly made available by the Royal Hospital, we have a collection of rooms and spaces which enables us to display some of the research and the events, not only of the Royal Parks in World War I, but also lesser-known stories of the Royal Hospital in those times and as life progressed …. into the Peace. Chelsea Pensioner, Rick Graham, in the studio with his paintings In pride of place, in the main corridor, is in-pensioner Rick Graham’s wonderful painting of “Battlefields to Butterflies”. Rick had already produced several large-scale paintings on themes of World War I, some of which are reproduced here, while the originals are on show in the Visitor Centre. Rick was inspired by the “Battlefields to Butterflies” theme and his interpretation is appropriately set in Brompton Cemetery, where the memorial stone now resides. In sequence, the exhibition starts in Room 1 with its memories of war and some original trench artefacts. Members of 10th Essex Living History Group will be in attendance to provide further interpretation. The exhibition explains the inspirations for the Battlefields to Butterflies theme and the journey to building the trench at RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show, as well as workshops and installations elsewhere, such as in the City of London’s Guildhall Yard and at Osborne House Gardens on the Isle of Wight, once managed by the Royal Parks. Room 2 gives a wider perspective on some of the many ways in which the Royal Parks were used in wartime and links with related stories from the Royal Hospital including respective staff forces who served and the vital part played by women through the war. A copy of the Treaty of Versailles (from the Royal Hospital’s collection) is exhibited in the corridor following Room 2; and beyond, in Room 3, are the stories of memorial shrines which appeared in public spaces, and peace celebrations which took place in the Royal Parks. Similarly, at this time, the Royal Hospital experienced a huge increase in requests for places and pensions as the troops returned. In the stairwell, there is a short visual presentation of the dedication service at Brompton Cemetery in November 2018. Finally, in the exit corridor is a short summary of the impact of demobilisation in the early months of 1919. 3 Room 1 The displays in this room take us from the initial ideas to recognise and commemorate the staff of the Royal Parks who were lost in the war, through to the installation of “the trench” at the RHS Hampton Court Palace Flower Show. The first step was research to trace the names of the fallen. From this, ideas for a horticultural commemoration emerged and were tested for suitability, deliverability and cost. An important part of this process was the Royal Parks Guild’s involvement of horticultural apprentices and trainees, working with Chelsea Pensioners, to explore army life in war and remembrance. With the assistance of the Royal Hospital Chelsea, this evolved into a series of intergenerational Plant propagation masterclass at the workshops which helped inform the designs of Royal Hospital the various commemorative installations and produced plant material for display. Inspiration for presenting an abandoned World War l trench which expressed the healing qualities of a natural landscape, albeit a recovering one, was drawn initially from the work of war artist and writer William Orpen. Only later, with the help of James Wearn of the Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, did we find that Arthur Hill, later Director at Kew Gardens, had been in the same area of the Somme battlefield as Orpen and his notes accorded closely with what Orpen saw, wrote about and drew. Constructing the trench at the Hampton The Royal Parks memorial stone displayed Court Palace Flower Show at the Hampton Court Palace Flower Show The creation of the trench and the recovering landscape was only made possible by the huge effort and input by the Gardens and Estates team of Historic Royal Palaces, and by the worthy efforts of volunteers who helped to prepare and place sandbags, weave the hazel hurdles for the trench linings, and plant wildflowers. The Commonwealth War Graves Commission kindly provided various props and set- dressings, a few of which are here on display. 4 Room 2 This room is about diversity; both of the Royal Parks and its staff, and also of the Royal Hospital during the war. Some of the parks were put to immediate use. Hyde Park was well known for its parade ground function and it was quickly commandeered for recruitment and training purposes, as well as being a point of departure for assembled troops. However, as the war progressed more and more uses were imposed and accommodated, but not without protest! The lake in St James’s Park was drained and temporary buildings were erected; a large area of The Regent’s Park was taken over for a forces postal sorting office; parkland was used for testing equipment and for training; and other areas were ploughed up for cropping and allotment gardens. The © IWM Q70032 extensive playing fields area of Burton Court, facing the General French inspecting north side of the Royal Hospital, was turned over to a vast troops in Hyde Park, 1914 hutted encampment to accommodate the dramatically expanding requirements of the pensions service. As recruitment and, later, conscription took its toll of labour forces, women had increasingly important and critical roles in industry and services. Research throughout the World War I project helped to identify not only these substantial impacts on the parks, but also went on to discover many of those who had served. The exhibition makes direct links to two families who suffered loss; that of Hori Tribe from the Royal Parks, and the Ludlow family from the Royal Hospital, both of whom were tragically affected by the course of the war. Image courtesy of Sarah Gooch Image courtesy of Royal Hospital Chelsea Hori Tribe (believed second left) with Captain of Invalids, Ernest Ludlow MC colleagues in Greenwich Park nursery Grenadier Guards and his family Immediately following the armistice on 11 November 1918, there were local and national celebrations with organised parades, street parties and enthusiastic 5 rejoicing, but there was inevitably a realisation of the enormous loss of life which affected many communities. Shrines of remembrance had started to appear on streets, spontaneously at first, even in 1915. Deeper into the war there was increasing awareness that perhaps a memorial of national status would be needed to recognise and pay respect to those that had died. A temporary shrine was unveiled by the Bishop of London on 4 August 1918 in Hyde Park, near Marble Arch.

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