Tomb of Marigold Churchill#Bio

File:Tomb of Marigold Churchill, Kensal Green Cemetery, February 2024 06.jpg

{{anchor|Bio}}Marigold Churchill (15 November 1918–23 August 1921) was the fourth child of Winston and Clementine Churchill. She died of sepsis at the age of 2 years, 9 months, while on holiday at Broadstairs in Kent. Her death devastated her parents.{{Cite web|url=https://www.thetimes.com/comment/register/article/churchills-torment-over-death-of-two-year-old-daughter-laid-bare-llw8zns6lxs|title=Churchill’s torment over death of two year old daughter laid bare|first=Richard|last=Brooks|publisher=The Times|access-date=6 February 2024}} She was buried at Kensal Green Cemetery three days after her death, in a private ceremony attended only by the Churchill family. Photographers who had come to the cemetery left at Churchill's request.{{cite web|url=https://thelondondead.blogspot.com/2023/09/churchills-personal-tragedy-marigold.html|first=David|last=Bingham|title=Churchill's personal tragedy: Marigold Churchill (1918-1921)|publisher=The London Dead|date=23 September 2023|access-date=7 February 2024}} In 2020 her body was exhumed and reburied in the Spencer-Churchill family plot at St Martin's Church, Bladon in Oxfordshire.{{cite web|url=https://winstonchurchill.org/publications/churchill-bulletin/bulletin-165-mar-2022/together-at-last/|title=Together at last|publisher=International Churchill Society|date=27 February 2022|access-date=7 January 2024}}

The tomb takes the form of a cross. It is carved in Hopton Wood stone,{{NHLE|num=1246128|desc=Tomb of Marigold Churchill|grade=II|access-date=6 February 2024}} a particularly fine form of limestone much used for gravestones.{{efn|Oscar Wilde's tomb in Père Lachaise Cemetery in Paris is carved from Hopton Wood stone.{{sfn|Pennington|1987|p=32}}}}{{cite journal|last=Thomas|first=Ian A|title=Hopton Wood Stone – England's premier decorative stone|journal=England's Heritage in Stone Proceedings of a Conference Tempest Anderson Hall, York 15–17 March 2005|pages=90–105|url=http://www.englishstone.org.uk/York/ESF%20-%20Ian%20Thomas.pdf|url-status=dead|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20140514044950/http://www.englishstone.org.uk/York/ESF%20-%20Ian%20Thomas.pdf|archivedate=14 May 2014}} The monument originally comprised a pedestal, with "exquisite" Gill lettering, topped with a shaft depicting the crucifixion. The wording on the pediment reads: "HERE LIES // MARIGOLD // DEAR CHILD // OF WINSTON // AND CLEMENTIME // CHURCHILL // BORN NOV 15 // 1918 // DIED AUG 23 // 1921 // R.I.P". The upper part of the memorial was stolen in 1992 and was replaced by a stone cross.{{cite web|url=https://www.lbhf.gov.uk/sites/default/files/section_attachments/pages_from_st_marys_1_tcm21-20159.pdf|title=St Mary's Conservation Area|publisher=Hammersmith and Fulham London Borough Council|access-date=7 February 2024|page=7}} The designer was Eric Gill.{{efn|Historic England's Listing Guide for Commemorative Structures explicitly notes that private memorials built in the 20th century will rarely meet the listing criteria. It goes on to note Eric Gill's work as the "outstanding" example of the type, and cites the Memorial to Marigold Churchill as a "characteristic example".{{cite web|url=https://historicengland.org.uk/images-books/publications/dlsg-commemorative-structures/heag110-commemorative-structures-lsg/|title=Commemorative Structures: Listing Selection Guide|publisher=Historic England|access-date=7 February 2024|page=15}}}} It is a Grade II listed structure.

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{{reflist}}

• {{cite book

|last=Pennington|first=Michael

|title=An Angel for a Martyr

|year=1987

|publisher=Whitenights Press

|isbn=978-0-704-90113-1

}}

{{Winston Churchill}}

{{Eric Gill}}

{{Commons category|Tomb of Marigold Churchill}}

Category:1921 sculptures

Category:Burials at Kensal Green Cemetery

Category:Grade II listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea

Category:Kensal Green

Category:Tombs in the United Kingdom

Category:Winston Churchill