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The Cenotaph.....................cont

It is overlooked by an enthroned statue of Queen Victoria, sceptre in hand, on top of the Old Home Office Building, immediately opposite. Its overall height is 35 feet, the base is 15' x 8'6 ", the top is 11'6 x 6'6 ". The laurel wreaths at the ends are 5 feet in diameter, the one at the top 3'6 ". All letters and Roman numerals are approximately 5 " square. The accurate rendition in stone of the design specification called for masonry skills of the highest order. Lutyens declined his fee, Messrs Holland, Hannen and Cubitts Ltd erected it at a cost of £7,325. [22] Unusually, the cost of its erection was met by funds voted by Parliament. The unveiling of the permanent structure by King George V on 11th November 1920 was combined with a ceremony to mark the passing of the body of the Unknown Warrior for re-burial at Westminster Abbey. The first annual ceremony took place at the Cenotaph on the same date the following year. Since that time, the Cenotaph and the ceremony held there on Remembrance Sunday has been the national focus for commemorating the British People's war dead. [23] Some idea of the power of this monument in the national consciousness may be taken from the fact that, as at April 2002, 291 copies of this monument had been erected all over the UK. Lutyens' Cenotaph went from being a design, to becoming a convention.

[22] PRO file Works/20 8/5.

[23] PRO file Works/20 1/4.