Chattri (Brighton)
Encyclopedia
The Chattri is a war memorial
in the English
city of Brighton and Hove. It is situated in an extremely isolated position 500 feet (152.4 m) above the city on the South Downs
above the suburb of Patcham
, and is accessible only by bridleway. It stands on the site where a number of Indian soldiers who fought for the British Empire
were cremated during the First World War. The structure has Grade II listed status, reflecting its architectural and historic importance.
was part of the British Empire during the First World War, and more than 800,000 Indian soldiers fought for the Allied Powers
. During the four years of fighting, thousands of wounded combatants were brought to Britain to be treated in makeshift military hospital
s. Three were established in Brighton
; one was the town's famous royal palace, the Royal Pavilion
. King George V
is said to have decreed that Indian soldiers were to be treated at the Pavilion, apparently believing that the flamboyant Indo-Saracenic
building would provide familiar surroundings. In December 1914, 345 injured soldiers were transported to Brighton by train and were transferred to the hospitals. The King and Queen, Mayor of Brighton, Chief Constable of Brighton and other dignitaries visited frequently, and careful arrangements were made at the Royal Pavilion to provide for the different dietary and other cultural requirements of Hindus
, Sikhs
and Muslims
.
Although the great majority of soldiers recovered from their injuries, some died. The 21 Muslim men who died were taken to the Shah Jahan Mosque
in Woking
, Surrey
, and buried in accordance with Islamic tradition in a new cemetery. The bodies of 53 Hindus and Sikhs were taken to a remote location high on the South Downs above Brighton, where a ghat
(funeral pyre) was built so they could be cremated and their ashes scattered in the English Channel
. This funeral rite was again carried out in line with religious custom. In total, 18 men who were treated at the Royal Pavilion died, ten of whom were cremated on the ghat. (The 56 other victims died at the Kitchener Hospital—now Brighton General Hospital—or a temporarily converted school at York Place.)
in the Indian Medical Service
and the Mayor of Brighton, Sir John Otter, planned the establishment of a memorial to the soldiers who had died in Brighton. Lt Das Gupta made the proposal, but Otter took on the project almost single-handedly; after leaving his position as Mayor he chaired Brighton's Indian Memorials Committee. In December 1915 he made a proposal to the India Office
for a memorial on the ghat site and another in Brighton town centre; Sir Austen Chamberlain
, the Secretary of State for India
, agreed this in February 1916. In July of that year, the land on which the ghat stood, and the immediate area around it, was transferred from the Marquess of Abergavenny
to the ownership of Brighton County Borough. At the same time, the India Office agreed to share the cost of building and erecting the memorial with Brighton Corporation (the forerunner of the present Brighton and Hove City Council), on the understanding that the Corporation would be responsible for the town centre memorial.
Funds were raised during 1917. After delays caused by the need to dedicate all available resources to the war effort, in April 1918 a Manchester
-based building firm was awarded the contract to build the memorial. The main building material was marble
; its arrival from Sicily
was delayed by more than a year, but building work started in mid-1920.
A young Indian architect, E.C. Henriques, designed The Chattri; Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob
, an English architect who was responsible for many buildings in India and who helped pioneer the Indo-Saracenic
architectural style, provided guidance. Construction work started in August 1920 and continued until the end of that year. Brighton Corporation owned the memorial and took responsibility for its maintenance, and a cottage was provided nearby for a caretaker. This added £1,117 (£ as of ) to the final cost of £4,964 (£ as of ).
The Chattri was unveiled on 1 February 1921 by Edward, Prince of Wales
.
By the 1930s, the memorial had fallen into disrepair. The caretaker had died, nobody had replaced him, and the cottage had been demolished. The India Office, which had received many complaints about The Chattri's condition despite the Brighton Corporation having taken full responsibility for its upkeep, liaised with the Corporation and the Imperial War Graves Commission
in an attempt to encourage action. Between them, they planned a new maintenance policy and agreed to reduce the amount of surrounding land belonging to the memorial; in 1920 a 2 acre (0.809372 ha) area had been created around it. The Second World War intervened, though, and the whole area was requisitioned by the Army. By the end of the war, The Chattri was covered with bullet holes after being used as a target by troops practising their rifle
shooting. After the war, the War Office
agreed to pay for repairs, and The Chattri was restored to its original condition. Starting in 1951, the Royal British Legion undertook annual pilgrimages to the memorial, and also contributed to its upkeep. Although the pilgrimages ceased in 1999, the Sikh community has led a similar annual ceremony each year since 2000.
The Chattri was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
on 20 August 1971. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
at Patcham
and the Clayton Windmills
at the top of the Downs. The bridleway, which at that point runs along a ridge between Hogtrough Bottom and Deep Bottom, is part of the Sussex Border Path
, and The Chattri is at the northern extremity of the City of Brighton and Hove, on the border with the Mid Sussex
district of West Sussex
.
White marble from Sicily was used for the body of the memorial. It sits on a plinth of grey stone which stands over three blocks of granite
which cover the slabs used during the cremations. The Chattri takes the form of a tall, domed pavilion, rising to 29 feet (8.8 m) to the finial
at its apex. The base is square, and the eight columns carrying the dome start with square bases before becoming octagonal halfway up. The base of the dome is then octagonal. The plinth bears an inscription in English, Hindi
, Punjabi
and Urdu
, the text of which was prepared by Sir John Otter:
War memorial
A war memorial is a building, monument, statue or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or to commemorate those who died or were injured in war.-Historic usage:...
in the English
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
city of Brighton and Hove. It is situated in an extremely isolated position 500 feet (152.4 m) above the city on the South Downs
South Downs
The South Downs is a range of chalk hills that extends for about across the south-eastern coastal counties of England from the Itchen Valley of Hampshire in the west to Beachy Head, near Eastbourne, East Sussex, in the east. It is bounded on its northern side by a steep escarpment, from whose...
above the suburb of Patcham
Patcham
Patcham is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is approximately north of the city centre, bounded by the A27 to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west...
, and is accessible only by bridleway. It stands on the site where a number of Indian soldiers who fought for the British Empire
British Empire
The British Empire comprised the dominions, colonies, protectorates, mandates and other territories ruled or administered by the United Kingdom. It originated with the overseas colonies and trading posts established by England in the late 16th and early 17th centuries. At its height, it was the...
were cremated during the First World War. The structure has Grade II listed status, reflecting its architectural and historic importance.
Indian soldiers in Brighton
IndiaBritish Raj
British Raj was the British rule in the Indian subcontinent between 1858 and 1947; The term can also refer to the period of dominion...
was part of the British Empire during the First World War, and more than 800,000 Indian soldiers fought for the Allied Powers
Allies of World War I
The Entente Powers were the countries at war with the Central Powers during World War I. The members of the Triple Entente were the United Kingdom, France, and the Russian Empire; Italy entered the war on their side in 1915...
. During the four years of fighting, thousands of wounded combatants were brought to Britain to be treated in makeshift military hospital
Military hospital
Military hospital is a hospital, which is generally located on a military base and is reserved for the use of military personnel, their dependents or other authorized users....
s. Three were established in Brighton
Brighton
Brighton is the major part of the city of Brighton and Hove in East Sussex, England on the south coast of Great Britain...
; one was the town's famous royal palace, the Royal Pavilion
Royal Pavilion
The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion...
. King George V
George V of the United Kingdom
George V was King of the United Kingdom and the British Dominions, and Emperor of India, from 6 May 1910 through the First World War until his death in 1936....
is said to have decreed that Indian soldiers were to be treated at the Pavilion, apparently believing that the flamboyant Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic
The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India...
building would provide familiar surroundings. In December 1914, 345 injured soldiers were transported to Brighton by train and were transferred to the hospitals. The King and Queen, Mayor of Brighton, Chief Constable of Brighton and other dignitaries visited frequently, and careful arrangements were made at the Royal Pavilion to provide for the different dietary and other cultural requirements of Hindus
Hinduism
Hinduism is the predominant and indigenous religious tradition of the Indian Subcontinent. Hinduism is known to its followers as , amongst many other expressions...
, Sikhs
Sikhism
Sikhism is a monotheistic religion founded during the 15th century in the Punjab region, by Guru Nanak Dev and continued to progress with ten successive Sikh Gurus . It is the fifth-largest organized religion in the world and one of the fastest-growing...
and Muslims
Islam
Islam . The most common are and . : Arabic pronunciation varies regionally. The first vowel ranges from ~~. The second vowel ranges from ~~~...
.
Although the great majority of soldiers recovered from their injuries, some died. The 21 Muslim men who died were taken to the Shah Jahan Mosque
Shah Jahan Mosque
The Shah Jahan Mosque is the first purpose-built mosque in Britain built 1889 in Woking, 30 miles south-west of London in Oriental Road.-Construction:...
in Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
, Surrey
Surrey
Surrey is a county in the South East of England and is one of the Home Counties. The county borders Greater London, Kent, East Sussex, West Sussex, Hampshire and Berkshire. The historic county town is Guildford. Surrey County Council sits at Kingston upon Thames, although this has been part of...
, and buried in accordance with Islamic tradition in a new cemetery. The bodies of 53 Hindus and Sikhs were taken to a remote location high on the South Downs above Brighton, where a ghat
Ghats
As used in many parts of South Asia, the term ghat refers to a series of steps leading down to a water body, usually a holy river. In Bengali-speaking regions, this set of stairs can lead down to something as small as a pond or as large as a major river....
(funeral pyre) was built so they could be cremated and their ashes scattered in the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
. This funeral rite was again carried out in line with religious custom. In total, 18 men who were treated at the Royal Pavilion died, ten of whom were cremated on the ghat. (The 56 other victims died at the Kitchener Hospital—now Brighton General Hospital—or a temporarily converted school at York Place.)
History of the memorial
In August 1915, soon after the last cremations at the ghat site, a lieutenantLieutenant
A lieutenant is a junior commissioned officer in many nations' armed forces. Typically, the rank of lieutenant in naval usage, while still a junior officer rank, is senior to the army rank...
in the Indian Medical Service
Indian Medical Service
The Indian Medical Service was one of the military medical services, which also had some civilian functions, in British India. It served during the two world wars, and was in existence until the independence of India and Pakistan in 1947...
and the Mayor of Brighton, Sir John Otter, planned the establishment of a memorial to the soldiers who had died in Brighton. Lt Das Gupta made the proposal, but Otter took on the project almost single-handedly; after leaving his position as Mayor he chaired Brighton's Indian Memorials Committee. In December 1915 he made a proposal to the India Office
India Office
The India Office was a British government department created in 1858 to oversee the colonial administration of India, i.e. the modern-day nations of Bangladesh, Burma, India, and Pakistan, as well as territories in South-east and Central Asia, the Middle East, and parts of the east coast of Africa...
for a memorial on the ghat site and another in Brighton town centre; Sir Austen Chamberlain
Austen Chamberlain
Sir Joseph Austen Chamberlain, KG was a British statesman, recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize and half-brother of Neville Chamberlain.- Early life and career :...
, the Secretary of State for India
Secretary of State for India
The Secretary of State for India, or India Secretary, was the British Cabinet minister responsible for the government of India and the political head of the India Office...
, agreed this in February 1916. In July of that year, the land on which the ghat stood, and the immediate area around it, was transferred from the Marquess of Abergavenny
Marquess of Abergavenny
Marquess of Abergavenny , in the County of Monmouth, is a title in the Peerage of the United Kingdom that was created on 14 January 1876, along with the title Earl of Lewes , in the County of Sussex, for the 5th Earl of Abergavenny, a member of the Nevill family.The 1st Marquess's ancestor, the de...
to the ownership of Brighton County Borough. At the same time, the India Office agreed to share the cost of building and erecting the memorial with Brighton Corporation (the forerunner of the present Brighton and Hove City Council), on the understanding that the Corporation would be responsible for the town centre memorial.
Funds were raised during 1917. After delays caused by the need to dedicate all available resources to the war effort, in April 1918 a Manchester
Manchester
Manchester is a city and metropolitan borough in Greater Manchester, England. According to the Office for National Statistics, the 2010 mid-year population estimate for Manchester was 498,800. Manchester lies within one of the UK's largest metropolitan areas, the metropolitan county of Greater...
-based building firm was awarded the contract to build the memorial. The main building material was marble
Marble
Marble is a metamorphic rock composed of recrystallized carbonate minerals, most commonly calcite or dolomite.Geologists use the term "marble" to refer to metamorphosed limestone; however stonemasons use the term more broadly to encompass unmetamorphosed limestone.Marble is commonly used for...
; its arrival from Sicily
Sicily
Sicily is a region of Italy, and is the largest island in the Mediterranean Sea. Along with the surrounding minor islands, it constitutes an autonomous region of Italy, the Regione Autonoma Siciliana Sicily has a rich and unique culture, especially with regard to the arts, music, literature,...
was delayed by more than a year, but building work started in mid-1920.
A young Indian architect, E.C. Henriques, designed The Chattri; Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob
Samuel Swinton Jacob
Sir Samuel Swinton Jacob was an English engineer, architect and writer, active in India and best known for the numerous public buildings he designed in the Indo-Saracenic style.-Early life and education:...
, an English architect who was responsible for many buildings in India and who helped pioneer the Indo-Saracenic
Indo-Saracenic
The Indo-Saracenic Revival was an architectural style movement by British architects in the late 19th century in British India...
architectural style, provided guidance. Construction work started in August 1920 and continued until the end of that year. Brighton Corporation owned the memorial and took responsibility for its maintenance, and a cottage was provided nearby for a caretaker. This added £1,117 (£ as of ) to the final cost of £4,964 (£ as of ).
The Chattri was unveiled on 1 February 1921 by Edward, Prince of Wales
Edward VIII of the United Kingdom
Edward VIII was King of the United Kingdom and the Dominions of the British Commonwealth, and Emperor of India, from 20 January to 11 December 1936.Before his accession to the throne, Edward was Prince of Wales and Duke of Cornwall and Rothesay...
.
By the 1930s, the memorial had fallen into disrepair. The caretaker had died, nobody had replaced him, and the cottage had been demolished. The India Office, which had received many complaints about The Chattri's condition despite the Brighton Corporation having taken full responsibility for its upkeep, liaised with the Corporation and the Imperial War Graves Commission
Commonwealth War Graves Commission
The Commonwealth War Graves Commission is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves, and places of commemoration, of Commonwealth of Nations military service members who died in the two World Wars...
in an attempt to encourage action. Between them, they planned a new maintenance policy and agreed to reduce the amount of surrounding land belonging to the memorial; in 1920 a 2 acre (0.809372 ha) area had been created around it. The Second World War intervened, though, and the whole area was requisitioned by the Army. By the end of the war, The Chattri was covered with bullet holes after being used as a target by troops practising their rifle
Rifle
A rifle is a firearm designed to be fired from the shoulder, with a barrel that has a helical groove or pattern of grooves cut into the barrel walls. The raised areas of the rifling are called "lands," which make contact with the projectile , imparting spin around an axis corresponding to the...
shooting. After the war, the War Office
War Office
The War Office was a department of the British Government, responsible for the administration of the British Army between the 17th century and 1964, when its functions were transferred to the Ministry of Defence...
agreed to pay for repairs, and The Chattri was restored to its original condition. Starting in 1951, the Royal British Legion undertook annual pilgrimages to the memorial, and also contributed to its upkeep. Although the pilgrimages ceased in 1999, the Sikh community has led a similar annual ceremony each year since 2000.
The Chattri was listed at Grade II by English Heritage
English Heritage
English Heritage . is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport...
on 20 August 1971. It is one of 1,124 Grade II-listed buildings and structures, and 1,218 listed buildings of all grades, in the city of Brighton and Hove.
Architecture and location
The Chattri was built at the exact location where the funeral pyres were constructed for the cremation of the 53 soldiers. This is an isolated, windswept position on the South Downs 500 feet (152.4 m) above Brighton. The only access is from a path off a bridleway between the A27 Brighton BypassA27 road
The A27 is a major road in England. It runs from its junction with the A36 at Whiteparish in the county of Wiltshire. It closely parallels the south coast, where it passes through West Sussex and terminates at Pevensey in East Sussex.Between Portsmouth and Lewes, it is one of the busiest trunk...
at Patcham
Patcham
Patcham is an area of the city of Brighton and Hove. It is approximately north of the city centre, bounded by the A27 to the north, Hollingbury to the east and southeast, Withdean to the south and the Brighton Main Line to the west...
and the Clayton Windmills
Clayton Windmills
The Clayton Windmills, known locally as Jack and Jill, stand on the South Downs above the village of Clayton, West Sussex, England. They comprise a post mill and a tower mill, and the roundhouse of a former post mill. All three are Grade II* listed buildings....
at the top of the Downs. The bridleway, which at that point runs along a ridge between Hogtrough Bottom and Deep Bottom, is part of the Sussex Border Path
Sussex Border Path
The Sussex Border Path is a 256 kilometres long-distance footpath in southern England that connects Thorney Island to Rye.The footpath uses existing rights of way to follow the Sussex county border and is waymarked....
, and The Chattri is at the northern extremity of the City of Brighton and Hove, on the border with the Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex
Mid Sussex is a local government district in the English county of West Sussex. It contains the towns of East Grinstead, Haywards Heath and Burgess Hill....
district of West Sussex
West Sussex
West Sussex is a county in the south of England, bordering onto East Sussex , Hampshire and Surrey. The county of Sussex has been divided into East and West since the 12th century, and obtained separate county councils in 1888, but it remained a single ceremonial county until 1974 and the coming...
.
White marble from Sicily was used for the body of the memorial. It sits on a plinth of grey stone which stands over three blocks of granite
Granite
Granite is a common and widely occurring type of intrusive, felsic, igneous rock. Granite usually has a medium- to coarse-grained texture. Occasionally some individual crystals are larger than the groundmass, in which case the texture is known as porphyritic. A granitic rock with a porphyritic...
which cover the slabs used during the cremations. The Chattri takes the form of a tall, domed pavilion, rising to 29 feet (8.8 m) to the finial
Finial
The finial is an architectural device, typically carved in stone and employed decoratively to emphasize the apex of a gable or any of various distinctive ornaments at the top, end, or corner of a building or structure. Smaller finials can be used as a decorative ornament on the ends of curtain rods...
at its apex. The base is square, and the eight columns carrying the dome start with square bases before becoming octagonal halfway up. The base of the dome is then octagonal. The plinth bears an inscription in English, Hindi
Hindi
Standard Hindi, or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi, also known as Manak Hindi , High Hindi, Nagari Hindi, and Literary Hindi, is a standardized and sanskritized register of the Hindustani language derived from the Khariboli dialect of Delhi...
, Punjabi
Punjabi language
Punjabi is an Indo-Aryan language spoken by inhabitants of the historical Punjab region . For Sikhs, the Punjabi language stands as the official language in which all ceremonies take place. In Pakistan, Punjabi is the most widely spoken language...
and Urdu
Urdu
Urdu is a register of the Hindustani language that is identified with Muslims in South Asia. It belongs to the Indo-European family. Urdu is the national language and lingua franca of Pakistan. It is also widely spoken in some regions of India, where it is one of the 22 scheduled languages and an...
, the text of which was prepared by Sir John Otter: