Following an invited competition, Brian Catling was selected to create a memorial for the Tower of London. The aim of the commission was to mark symbollically the Site of Execution within the Tower's grounds, commemorating the individuals who lost their lives there from the sixteenth and twentieth centuries. Brian Catling’s sculpture is comprised of two circular elements. The larger circle is made of dark granite and on its rim bears a poem, written by the artist:
Gentle visitor pause awhile, where you stand death cut away the light of many
days. Here jewelled names were broken from the vivid thread of life, may they rest in peace while we walk the generations around their strife and courage under these restless skies.
A second smaller disc of sand-blasted glass bears the names of those executed. Above the disc lies a clear cast glass pillow with an impression at its centre, as if someone had just been resting there.
For 'Historic Royal Palaces' press release about the memorial please see: http://www.hrp.org.uk/NewsAndMedia/Pressresources/tolpressresources/pressreleasememorialTower.aspx
