Postman’s Park And The Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice

Practically in the shadow of St Paul’s Cathedral lies Postman’s Park. From the street it looks like your fairly standard bit of inner city greenery. However, tucked away inside is one of London’s most unusual but tragic memorials: the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice.

The Park

Postman’s Park was amalgamated in 1880 from the churchyards of 3 churches and is now a green space for city workers to sit and have their sandwiches.

It is so named because it used to back on to the General Post Office for London. This was built in 1829 and was the first dedicated post office building in England. It was used until 1912 when it outgrew the building. In fact, St Paul’s tube station was originally called Post Office until 1937 with the current Blackfriars station called St Paul’s.

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The Memorial To Heroic Self-Sacrifice

The memorial is not a huge golden monument or beautiful statue. It is a long wall, covered by a wooden shelter and lined with 54 ceramic tablets. Each tablet is dedicated to someone who died saving the life of another and it is known as the Memorial to Heroic Self-Sacrifice.

The memorial to heroic self sacrifice was the brainchild of artist George Frederick Watts. In classic Victorian moralistic fashion he wanted to create a monument to those with morals considered worth celebrating. He hoped that people would learn from those featured and use the lessons in their everyday lives.

The memorial was unveiled in 1900 with just 4 plaques. Most were then added between 1900 and 1930.

Here are three interesting but terribly sad plaques you can see in the park:

The Heroic Tale of Alice Ayres

The earliest heroic deed honoured is that of Alice Ayres. Alice was a servant in a house and oil shop on Union Street in Southwark where she lived with her in-laws. On the night of the 24th April 1885 a fire broke out in the shop below where they were sleeping.

Alice saved the lives of her 3 little nieces by throwing a feather mattress out for them to land on. Sadly the father, mother and the brother all died. The father supposedly was found clutching his money box (not quite as heroic). Alice herself fell from the window, missed the mattress and sadly died from her injuries at Guy’s hospital. Her last words were ‘I tried my best and could try no more’.

She became a national hero and role model with a huge amount of press around the event. A 14ft red granite monument was put up over her grave in Isleworth Cemetery and it is still the largest marker in the cemetery.

If it all sounds a bit familiar then you may well have seen the 2004 film Closer starring Natalie Portman and Jude Law. The film brought renewed interest to Alice and the memorial. Natalie Portman’s character fabricates an identity based on Alice Ayres’ plaque in Postman’s Park.

I first came across Alice’s story whilst researching my blog post on Crossbones Graveyard, also on Union Street, which you can read here.

So if you happen to be passing by St Paul’s why not pop your head in and have a look. It is open 8am-6pm everyday.

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