The Chelsea Nursery
The Chelsea Nursery, the Early Years provision for Cameron Vale School, is very excited to announce that its on the move! Just over Chelsea Bridge, ... Read Feature
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On Thursday 15 February 2024, the 150th anniversary of Shackleton’s birth, a memorial in tribute to Dulwich College alumnus Sir Ernest Shackleton, was dedicated and formally unveiled in Westminster Abbey in a ceremony led by the Princess Royal. The memorial, which weighs a hefty 154kg, has been hoisted to the walls alongside a stone dedicated to Sir Francis Drake and Captain Cook. In true Shackleton fashion, human strength was favoured in place of a small crane to carry this out!
Following an appeal to Former pupils (Old Alleynians) by Dr Joe Spence, Dulwich College partnered with the James Caird Society and Shackleton to support this project which took almost two years to come to fruition.
Taking almost two months to carve, the memorial is heavy with symbolism, and is made from different kinds of stone taken from near Shackleton’s birthplace in Ireland; Kilkenny limestone for the southern oceans and green Connemara marble for the southern tips of the continents. Carrara marble from Italy has been used for the base, which has been carved into a shape similar to the James Caird. The James Caird is the 23-foot whaler in which Shackleton and five crew members from the Endurance expedition made the epic open boat voyage of 800 miles (1,300 km) from Elephant Island, 500 miles (800 km) south of Cape Horn, to South Georgia during the Antarctic winter of 1916. It is fitting that the James Caird now rests in Dulwich College as a permanent celebration of one of its most illustrious alumni.
Read more and watch a film about the extraordinary life of Sir Ernest Shackleton and about the James Caird.
Did you know that Dulwich College welcomes members of the public to visit the James Caird? Visits must be pre-arranged, and are offered on Fridays at 11.30am and can be booked via TryBooking.
We also welcome School Tours – these can be booked on Tuesdays and Thursdays in College term time and must be pre-booked by emailing archives@dulwich.org.uk. Schools can also download a workbook and resource pack for teachers.
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