
Memorial details
- Memorial type
- Chapel or Church: Freestanding building
- District
- City Of Westminster
- Town
- Holborn
- County
- Greater London
- Country
- England
- Commemoration
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Ceremony
- Dedicated
Date: 19 Oct 1958
Attended by: Bishop of London
- Dedicated
- Lost
- Not lost
- WM Reference
- 53566
Support IWM
Any gift we receive makes a vital contribution to our ongoing work, from conserving our collection to supporting our public programme.
Current location
St Clement Danes Church
Strand
Holborn
City Of Westminster
Greater London
WC2R 1DH
England
OS Grid Ref: TQ 30978 81036
Denomination: Church of England
- Description
- Church was rebuilt after WW2 in original Baroque style, with the incorporation into it many RAF motifs and memorials. Floor contains 800 RAF squadron and unit badges in Welsh slate. Arms of Air Marshal Lord Trenchard, 'Father of the RAF', hang above the west door, and small arms of air chief marshals from 1918-1977 are at the end of the pews. Beneath ten of the windows are large books of remembrance listing more than 125,000 names of those killed in the RAF and its predecessors (WMR 53706).
- Inscription
- (Above chancel): AEDIFICAVIT CHR. WREN A.D. MDCLXXXII. DIRUERUNT AERII BELLI FULMINA A.D. MCMXLI. RESTITUIT REGINA CLASSIS AERONAUTICA A.D. MCMLVIII. (Built by Christopher Wren 1682. Destroyed by enemy air attacks 1941. Rebuilt by the RAF 1958.) (Tablet on outer east wall): ST CLEMENT DANES/ BUILT BY THE DANISH/ COMMUNITY IN THE NINTH/ CENTURY AND REBUILT BY/ WILLIAM THE CONQUEROR/ REBUILT AGAIN BY/ SIR CHRISTOPHER WREN IN/ 1681 THE STEEPLE ADDED BY/ JAMES GIBBS IN 1719/ GUTTED BY GERMAN INCENDIARY BOMBS LEAVING/ ONLY THE DAMAGED WALLS/ AND STEEPLE 10 MAY 1941/ ADOPTED IN 1956 BY THE ROYAL AIR FORCE/ RESTORED BY ANTONY LLOYD/ AND RECONSECRATED IN THE / PRESENCE OF HER MAJESTY/ QUEEN ELIZABETH II/ 19 OCTOBER 1958/ AS THE CENTRAL CHURCH/ OF THE ROYAL AIR FORCE
- Inscription legible?
- yes
- Commemorations
- Second World War (1939-1945)
Total names on memorial: 0
Served and returned: Undefined
Died: 0
Exact count: no
Information shown: Undefined
Order of information: Undefined
- Second World War (1939-1945)
- Components
- Church
Measurements: Undefined
Materials: Undefined
- Church
- Listing information
- This memorial is not currently listed. Find out how to nominate this memorial for inclusion on the National Heritage List for England
- More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
- Condition
- ST CLEMENT DANES CENTRAL CHURCH OF THE RAF
- WMO ID: 143135
- Condition: Good [last updated on 23-04-2019]
- Help update these details if the condition is wrong
- History
- Reconstruction began in 1955 and in 1958 it was dedicated as a memorial to airmen killed in WW2 and subsequent conflicts.
- Trust fund/Scholarship
- No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A - Sponsorship
- Public
- Responsibility
- Royal Air Force
This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.
This information is made available under a Creative Commons BY-NC licence.
This means you may reuse it for non-commercial purposes only and must attribute it to us using the following statement:
© WMR-53566
For queries, please contact [email protected].