Tomb of Frederick Gustav Jonathan Eckstein
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright for Photograph: Creative Commons |
Location
| Street: | B2026 |
| Town: | Fairwarp |
| Parish: | Maresfield |
| Council: | Wealden District Council |
| County: | East Sussex |
| Postcode: | TN22 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Outside building |
| and in: | Religious |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Western section of churchyard, Christ Church. |
| In the AZ book: | East Sussex |
| Page: | 34 |
| Grid reference: | G8 |
| The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks. | |
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Makers
| Name : | Sir William Reid Dick |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Eckstein family |
| Construction period: | 1932 |
| Installation date: | 1932 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Christ Church, Fairwarp |
| Object listing: | Grade II: of special interest warranting every effort to preserve them |
| Description: | Funeral monument. Stone sarcophagus on plinth with moulded lid. The corners have bronze angels with wings unfurled and there are two bronze reliefs to the sides. South side of tomb has a bronze relief depicting Sudanese plantation workers picking cotton. Some sources suggest that the north side bronze relief depicts a machine gunner in a scene from WWI (including the listing details of Historic England - "one depicting a scene from the First World War trenches" - 468700) although it is clearly a depiction of a miner using a drill. |
| Signatures: | Bottom right of bronze reliefs:
RD 1932 |
| Inscription: | IN AFFECTIONATE MEMORY OF SIR FREDERICK G.J. ECKSTEIN. BARONET. BORN 9TH APRIL 1857 DIED 10TH JVNE 1930 West side of tomb has a relief of the Eckstein coat of arms with motto IN LABORE CREDO |
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Classification
| Categories: | Religious, Funerary, Free Standing, Commemorative, Sculptural |
| Object type1: | Building |
| Object subtype1: | Mausoleum |
| Object type2: | Relief |
| Object type3: | Sculpture |
| Subject type1: | Pictorial |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
| Subject type2: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Tomb |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 97 |
| Width (cm): | 90 |
| Depth (cm): | 216 |
| Part 2: | Stepped (2) base |
| Material: | Stone |
| Height (cm): | 28 |
| Width (cm): | 130 |
| Depth (cm): | 253 |
| Part 3: | Angels (four identical) |
| Material: | Bronze, patinated blue/green |
| Height (cm): | 76 |
| Width (cm): | 93 |
| Depth (cm): | 15 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Surface |
| Condition 1: | Metallic staining |
| Condition 2: | Abrasions, cracks, splits |
| Condition 3: | Bird Guano |
| Condition 4: | Corrosion, Deterioration |
| More details: | Metallic staining to the stone from the bronze angels. Bird guano to top of tomb. Cracks and corrosion to the stepped base. |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 21/12/2007 |
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History
| History: | Sir Friedrich Gustav Jonathan Eckstein
Sir Friedrich Eckstein was a German born on 9th April 1857 in Birkach near Stuttgart. He pioneered the development of South African gold mines together with his brother, Hermann Eckstein, founder of the famous Witwatersrand mining house of H Eckstein & Co. (Corner House) in 1887. Later he was a partner in the Werner Beit Co. of London. He succeeded Sir Julius Weinher as Chairman of the Central Mining & Investment Corporation, but was finally forced out of office by anti-German hysteria that broke out at the beginning of the First World War. From 1888 Eckstein lived in Johannesburg where he had a grand house called Warrington Hall in the suburb of Doornfontein. He married Catherine Mitchell of Kimberley on 30th April 1890 with whom he had a a daughter, Herminie Beatrice and a son, Bernard Friedrich, and in 1901 he moved to England, first to The Walsingham Hotel, Piccadilly and then to 18 Park Lane, London. He was granted Brithish nationality in 1906. He bought Ottershaw Estate in two stages during 1910. He greatly improved and enlarged the estate and demolished the existing mansion to build a larger one in its place. It is said that his wife did not approve of the new mansion and refused to live in it. In addition, he made many other improvements to the estate including the enlargement of the North lodges and erected of a pair of ornate wrought iron gates between them. The kitchen gardens were redesigned and four cottages were converted to form Durnford Lodge. Furthermore, the Bothy may have been substantially altered at this time. When he sold Ottershaw Park in 1919 he moved to Oldlands Hall, Fairwarp, Sussex where he died and was buried in 1930. He was created a baronet in 1929. His wife died in 1935 in Manaus, Brazil. (http://www.johnathersuch.com/op_website/op_owners_text.htm Accessed 03/01/2008) |
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References
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Photographs
Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
 Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |  Author: Anthony McIntosh Copyright: Creative Commons |
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