National Windrush Monument

{{Short description|Memorial in London to the Windrush generation}}

{{Infobox monument

| name = National Windrush Monument

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| image = National Windrush Monument, 2022-06-24.jpg

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| location = Waterloo Station, London, England

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| designer = Basil Watson

| type = Sculpture

| material = Bronze

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| dedicated = Windrush generation

| open = 2022

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| coordinates = {{coords|51.5034|-0.1137|display=inline,title}}

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The National Windrush Monument is a bronze sculpture by Basil Watson in London Waterloo station. The monument commemorates the British African-Caribbean immigrants who came to the United Kingdom on board HMT Empire Windrush in 1948, who subsequently became known as the Windrush generation.{{Cite web |date=15 October 2021 |title=Basil Watson chosen to design national Windrush Monument |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/news/basil-watson-chosen-to-design-national-windrush-monument |access-date=2 May 2022 |website=gov.uk |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Morgan |first=Marjorie H. |date=22 June 2022 |title=The perfect storm: Basil Watson creates the National Windrush Monument |url=https://artuk.org/discover/stories/the-perfect-storm-basil-watson-creates-the-national-windrush-monument |access-date=25 June 2022 |website=Art UK |language=en}}

The sculpture features a family of three dressed in their Sunday best, standing upon a pile of suitcases and "surveying their new country". The monument also includes a poem by Laura Serrant titled "You Called ... and We Came".{{Cite news |date=2022-06-28 |title=Laura Serrant felt honoured over Windrush statue poem |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-nottinghamshire-61951394 |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}}

Background

Following World War II, the British government began to encourage immigration to fill labour shortages. The British Nationality Act 1948 granted the right to settle in the UK to people living in British colonies.{{Cite news |date=2018-04-16 |title=Who were the Windrush generation and what is Windrush Day? |url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-43782241 |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=BBC News |language=en-GB}} The ship HMT Empire Windrush was in the Caribbean, repatriating airmen who had served in the Royal Air Force during the war.{{Cite web |last=Procter |first=James |date=2018-06-14 |title=Empire Windrush: forgotten archive material reveals who was on its outward voyage to the Caribbean |url=https://theconversation.com/empire-windrush-forgotten-archive-material-reveals-who-was-on-its-outward-voyage-to-the-caribbean-97905 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=The Conversation |language=en-US}} Reduced price fares for the return journey from the Caribbean to the UK were offered and advertised in local newspapers, and many took up the opportunity.{{Cite web |last=Plowman |first=Peter |date= |title=Empire Windrush |url=https://seabreezes.co.im/empire-windrush/ |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240801235642/https://seabreezes.co.im/empire-windrush/ |archive-date=2024-08-01 |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Sea Breezes}}

Although the Empire Windrush was not the first ship to arrive in the UK with migrants from the Caribbean, its arrival at Tilbury, Essex, on 22 June 1948 saw extensive media attention.{{Cite news |last=Richards |first=Denise |date=21 June 1948 |title=Welcome Home! Evening Standard 'plane greets the 400 sons of Empire |newspaper=Evening Standard |place=London |page=1 |edition=36608}} The passenger list showed 1,028 passengers on board, the majority from the Caribbean. These and other migrants became known as the Windrush generation.

Proposals

Plans for a £1 million monument funded by the government were first announced in 2019. A Windrush Commemoration Committee was formed, chaired by Baroness Floella Benjamin.{{Cite web |title=Windrush Commemoration Committee - About us |url=https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/windrush-commemoration-committee/about |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=gov.uk |language=en}}

In July 2021 four proposals for the sculpture were shortlisted, all by artists of Caribbean descent. In addition to Watson's winning design, Thomas J Price proposed a {{Convert|12|ft|m|adj=on}} golden bronze statue of a woman. Valda Jackson designed three bronze figures, two adults and a child, scattered on a platform with space for people to sit next to them. Jeannette Ehlers proposed a design featuring figures on stilts, in reference to the Moko Jumbie tradition.{{Cite news |last=Gentleman |first=Amelia |date=2021-07-14 |title=Shortlist revealed for planned £1m Windrush monument in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/jul/14/shortlist-revealed-for-planned-1m-windrush-monument-in-london |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB}} Watson's design was announced as the winner in October 2021.

Arthur Torrington of the Windrush Foundation criticised the choice of Waterloo station for the monument, stating there had been a lack of consultation with the Caribbean community and that the location was of little relevance to the Windrush generation, and advocating that it should instead be in Windrush Square, Brixton.{{Cite web |date=2019-06-27 |title=Say No to the Government's Windrush Monument at Waterloo Station |url=https://windrushfoundation.com/news/no-to-windrush-monument-at-waterloo-station/ |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Windrush Foundation |language=en-GB}}{{Cite news |last=Mohdin |first=Aamna |date=2021-10-16 |title=Artist Basil Watson to design Windrush monument in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2021/oct/16/artist-basil-watson-design-windrush-monument-london |access-date=2025-04-28 |work=The Guardian |language=en-GB}} The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities responded that the location was relevant to many of the Windrush generation, and that the committee deciding the location included prominent members of the community. Watson also praised the highly visible location at one of the UK's busiest railway stations.

Unveiling

The sculpture was unveiled on 22 June 2022 (Windrush Day) by Prince William, Duke of Cambridge, with Queen Elizabeth also sending a message of support:{{cite news |last=Khomami |first=Nadia |author-link=Nadia Khomami |date=22 June 2022 |title=Windrush generation 'moved to tears' as monument unveiled in London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2022/jun/22/windrush-basil-watson-monument-unveiled-waterloo-station-london |accessdate=27 June 2022 |work=The Guardian}}

{{Quote|text=The unveiling at Waterloo Station on Windrush Day serves as a fitting thank you to the Windrush pioneers and their descendants, in recognition of the profound contribution they have made to the United Kingdom over the decades.}}

On the same day a different sculpture titled "Warm Shores" by Thomas J Price was also unveiled outside Hackney Town Hall.{{Cite web |last=Noble |first=Will |date=2022-06-22 |title=The National Windrush Monument At Waterloo Station |url=https://londonist.com/london/art-and-photography/national-windrush-monument-unveiled-waterloo-station-basil-watson |access-date=2025-04-28 |website=Londonist |language=en}}