Monument to Captain Percy Burrell
| 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: | Church Platt |
| Town: | Cuckfield |
| Parish: | Cuckfield |
| Council: | Mid Sussex District Council |
| County: | West Sussex |
| Postcode: | RH17 |
| Location on Google Map | |
| Object setting: | Inside building |
| and in: | Religious |
| Access is: | Public |
| Location note: | Parish Church of Holy Trinity |
| In the AZ book: | West Sussex |
| Page: | 71 |
| Grid reference: | N4 |
| 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. | |
| OS Reference: | TQ303245 |
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Makers
| Name : | John Bacon (the younger) |
| Role: | Sculptor |
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General Information
| Commissioned by: | Two surviving brothers of Percy Burrell |
| Construction period: | 1810 |
| Installation date: | 1810 |
| Work is: | Extant |
| Owner custodian: | Parish Church of Holy Trinity. Cuckfield. |
| Object listing: | Not known |
| Description: | A sculptural relief of three male figures set upon a large rectangular base that holds an inscribed panel. Atop the whole structure sits an urn in relief and underneath the inscribed panel is a wreathed coat of arms in relief. The figures depict a scene from the assault on Buenos Aires in 1807. One figure lies dead face down on the ground. Another, is on one knee supporting the dying/dead figure of Percy Burrell in his arms. |
| Signatures: | Bottom right of the monument:
J, BACON, Junr. Sculptor, LONDON, 1810. |
| Inscription: | SACRED TO THE MEMORY OF PERCY BURRELL. / CAPTAIN IN THE SIXTH REGIMENT OF DRAGOON – GUARDS, / FOURTH SON OF SIR WILLIAM BURRELL BART. OF KNEPP IN THE COUNTY OF SUSSEX. / AND SOPHIA ELDEST DAUGHTER OF SIR CHARLES RAYMOND BART. / THIS GALLANT OFFICER WAS BORN ON THE 5TH OF JULY 1779, / AND AT THE ILLCONCERTED AND FATAL ATTACK ON BUENOS-AYRES ON THE 5TH OF JULY 1807, / AFFORDED AN EXAMPLE OF THAT SELF DEVOTION, SO FREQUENT IN THE MILITARY ANNALS / OF HIS COUNTRY: FOR WHILST LEADING THE COLUMN OF DISMOUNTED CAVALRY / AFTER THE UNTIMELY FALL OF HIS SUPERIOR OFFICER LT. COL. KINGTON. AND / WHILST IN THE ACT OF ENCOURAGING BY HIS INTREPID EXAMPLE / THE EXERTIONS OF HIS MEN, WHO WERE EXPOSED TO A MOST DESTRUCTIVE FIRE, / HE WAS MORTALLY WOUNDED BY A MUSKET SHOT. / THUS FELL IN THE CAREER OF HONOR AND THE PRIME OF LIFE, / THIS BRAVE AND ACCOMPLISHED GENTLEMAN, REGRETTED AND LAMENTED / BY ALL WHO KNEW THE EXCELLENT QUALITIES OF HIS HEART AND MIND. / AND BY NONE MORE TRULY THAN HIS FELLOW SOLDIERS. / HIS TWO SURVIVING BROTHERS HAVE CAUSED THIS MONUMENT TO BE ERECTED. / AS A TRIBUTE OF RESPECT TO DEPARTED WORTH. / AND A MOURNFUL TESTIMONY OF THEIR FRATERNAL AFFECTION. |
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Classification
| Categories: | Sculptural, Funerary, Composite, Commemorative |
| Object type1: | Sculpture |
| Object type2: | Relief |
| Subject type1: | Pictorial |
| Subject subtype1: | Reclining |
| Subject type2: | Figurative |
| Subject subtype1: | Group |
| Subject type3: | Portrait |
| Subject subtype1: | Reclining |
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Object Parts
| Part 1: | Whole structure |
| Material: | White and grey marble |
| Height (cm): | 300 |
| Width (cm): | 155 |
| Depth (cm): | 17 |
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Object Condition
| Overall condition: | Good |
| Risk assessment: | No known risk |
| Condition 1 of type: | Structural |
| Condition 1: | Broken or missing parts |
| Condition 2: | Cracks, splits, breaks, holes |
| More details: | Small chip out of the marble to the right of Bacon's signature. The crest at the base of the monument is cracked across its full width. |
| Date of on-site inspection: | 21/12/2007 |
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History
| History: | 'The British invasions of the Río de la Plata were a series of unsuccessful British attempts to seize control of the Spanish colonies located around the La Plata Basin in South America. The invasions took place between 1806 and 1807, as part of the Napoleonic Wars, when Spain was an ally of France.
The invasions were in two phases. A detachment from the British Army occupied Buenos Aires for 46 days in 1806 before being expelled. In 1807, a second force occupied Montevideo, following the Battle of Montevideo (1807), remaining for several months, and a third force made a second attempt to take Buenos Aires. After several days of street-fighting against the local militia in which half of the British forces in Buenos Aires were killed or wounded, the British were forced to withdraw. The resistance of the local people and their active participation in the defence, with no support from the Spanish Kingdom, were important steps toward the May Revolution in 1810, and the Argentine Declaration of Independence in 1816.' (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_invasions_of_the_R%C3%ADo_de_la_Plata 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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