The Norman Cross Eagle Appeal

Napoleonic News Desk

by Paul Chamberlain

The Eagle Has Landed!

The Local Heritage Initiative has awarded a grant of £22,704 towards the restoration of the Norman Cross Eagle. This eagle stood atop a column at Norman Cross, near Peterborough, as a memorial to the 1,770 French and Dutch prisoners of war who died at the prison depot of Norman Cross during the Napoleonic Wars. The memorial was vandalised in 1990, and the eagle stolen.

The Norman Cross Eagle Appeal Committee submitted a grant application to the LHI earlier this year. The grant will enable the project to achieve its aims and restore the memorial by April 2005. As next year is the bicentenary of the Battle of Trafalgar, the restoration of the memorial comes at a most appropriate time. Many French and Spanish prisoners taken at this battle found themselves incarcerated at Norman Cross Prison Depot.

In addition to this award, Le Souvenir Français has generously donated £3,000 towards the restoration of this important war memorial. This grant emphasises the international importance of the project, especially in 2005, the year of the Trafalgar celebrations.

The eagle is being produced by the sculptor John Doubleday. Last year the Appeal Committee invited a number of sculptors to submit their design and costing for replacing the eagle. John Doubleday was chosen from amongst very stiff competition, and he has produced a very impressive eagle in clay that has been enthusiastically approved by the Committee. It will be cast in bronze and unveiled on the original column in April 2005. A special inauguration ceremony is being planned to celebrate the event.

The LHI grant includes funds to promote the story of the prison depot, and strengthen links between the prison site, restored memorial, and the unique and impressive Norman Cross Collection at Peterborough Museum. This collection tells the story of the depot, and displays many of the bone, wood and straw artefacts produced by prisoners of war at the time.

Funds will be used for a number of purposes:

  • The information board alongside the memorial will be updat-ed.
  • A resource pack will be produced explaining the story of the depot and memorial, and will be made available to teachers and students.
  • A Heritage Trail will be devised, linking the memorial, prison site and museum, and a Trail Leaflet will be produced for visitors to the area.
  • The project will be recorded on CD-ROM, both as a perma-nent record of the project, and also a resource for students in the future.
  • Over the weekend of 11th and 12th September 2004 there will be a Heritage Open Day at the Norman Cross Prison site and the museum.
  • A Community Group at Stilton (a village near to Norman Cross) has volunteered to produce a Napoleonic Community Panel (a framed textile, or tapestry) that relates the story of Norman Cross and its role during the Napoleonic Wars. This will be available for display at local venues, schools and Peterborough Museum, in association with local events, school projects, local history exhibitions etc.

The Norman Cross Eagle Appeal Committee acknowledges the generous support given to it not only by the Local Heritage Initiative, but also members of First Empire readers, who have made donations over the years. All funds received, from organisations or individuals, will be used to restore an important part of our heritage. The restoration of the memorial and the associated projects will coincide with the 2005 Trafalgar Festival, making it part of the national celebration of a significant era of our history.

Napoleonic News Desk

Back to Table of Contents -- First Empire # 78
Back to First Empire List of Issues
Back to MagWeb Master Magazine List
© Copyright 2004 by First Empire.
This article appears in MagWeb.com (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other articles from military history and related magazines are available at http://www.magweb.com