The Swanley Silhouettes
Hundreds of people attended the unveiling ceremony on 11th November 2018 when 110, five foot high stainless steel silhouettes were revealed.
Taken from the Swanley Town Council Town Crier Magazine:
"The idea for the Remembrance Silhouettes is not a new one and in fact towns all over the UK have participated in the ‘There but not there’ programme of transparent silhouettes along with metal framed ones and solid metal ones like the ones we have here in Swanley.
The CEO of Swanley Steve Nash was successful in obtaining a grant of £9700 from the Heritage Lottery to create something memorable for the town and in creating links with local business, Swanley History Group and local primary schools to take the project forward.
A WW1 Re-enactor was employed to go into some of the schools and raise awareness of the importance of this years remembrance earlier in 2018. This was also to encourage the children to do some research on those from Swanley who lost their lives and Swanley History Group kindly offered to support this and provided much of the information.
With the support of Town Councillors the silhouettes were agreed, the local supermarket approved the mounting of the silhouettes and Sevenoaks District Council gave their permission as the land owner. Additional sponsorship funding and a Grant from Councillor Michael Horwood’s Kent County Councillor fund ensured there was sufficient funding for the whole project. Thousands of poppies that were hand knitted as part of last years remembrance were brought out again along with some newly knitted ones to enhance this years display and staff at the Swanley Link secured each one to a small mesh over a number of weeks.
A local firm was identified to cut the stainless steel silhouettes and make the plaques for each silhouette and staff from Swanley Town Council Grounds Team then spent a week securing the silhouettes to the wall to create the display we have today.
While the steel silhouettes will stay as a permanent reminder, there are plans to change the display every year in a small way to keep it alive in everyone’s mind.
The next display for 2019 has been put forward but the CEO would like to hear from anyone who has an idea for further enhancements.
It is hoped that additional funding can be obtained from the National Lottery in the future to remember the fallen from other conflicts since WW1 until we can provide a memorial for everyone up to the present day."
The coordinates take you to the silhouettes. Find the below numbers from them where (8,3) = (8th line below emblem, 3rd number in that line). Maybe Elizabeth and Victoria will help locate the right ones.
A. Thomas Whitehead (7,1)
B. Herbert Verrell (3,1)
C. James Styles (5,4)
D. Henry Shaxted (3,2)
E. Frank Roberts (6,6)
F. Arthur Moody (6,1) or Robert Mills (5,2) (updated 13/2/22 to reflect damage to Arthur's memorial)
G. John Lawson (1,3)
H. James Jessup (1,2)
The 1.5ml magnetic cache can be found at:
N51 23. H-B D+E F-A
E0 10. A+G C+D H-F
***** PLEASE NOTE IMPORTANT *****
CACHES ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BE PLACED ON ACTUAL MEMORIALS OR WITHIN THE BOUNDARY OF SUCH
AT ALL TIMES PLEASE TREAT LOCATIONS OF MEMORIALS WITH RESPECT