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A bronzestatue of GeneralCharles George Gordon byHamo Thornycroft stands on a stone plinth in theVictoria Embankment Gardens in London. It has been Grade II listed since 1970. A similar statue stands at Gordon Reserve, nearParliament House inMelbourne, Australia, on its original tall plinth.
A different memorial statue byEdward Onslow Ford, depicting Gordon on a camel, stands atBrompton Barracks, Chatham, with another formerly in Khartoum and now atGordon's School near Woking. There are further memorial statues to Gordon in Aberdeen; in Gravesham, where the full length stone statue depicts Gordon in his army uniform with a sabre; and there is a Grade II listed monument to Gordon in Southampton.
Major-General Gordon was lionised as a British war hero after his death at the end of theSiege of Khartoum in January 1885. The statue was made in 1887–88. Gordon's brother, Sir Henry Gordon, advised Thornycroft to minimise the military character of the statue, and emphasis Gordon's qualities of strength of mind, love, kindness and affection.
The original statue in London was first unveiled inTrafalgar Square on 16 October 1888 without a formal ceremony. It was sited halfway between the two fountains in Trafalgar Square, standing on a 18 feet (5.5 m) high pedestal. The statue was removed from Trafalgar Square in 1943 and moved to the grounds ofMentmore Towers in Buckinghamshire.
In a speech in the House of Commons speech 5 May 1948,Winston Churchill (thenLeader of the Opposition) advocated a return of the statue to its original location. In the event, it was reinstalled on a lower plinth in 1953, about half a mile to the southeast, on theVictoria Embankment, between the newMinistry of Defence building and the River Thames, just south ofHorse Guards Avenue.
The larger than life size statue depicts the British Army officerCharles George Gordon standing in his army uniform, carrying a cane and a bible, with his head resting on his raised right hand, and his left foot resting on a broken cannon.
The plinth ofPortland stone bears inscriptions and two bronze plaques, one on each side. The main inscription in the stone on the front of the plinth reads: "CHARLES G. GORDON C.B. / MAJOR-GEN. ROYAL ENGINEERS // KILLED AT KHARTOUM / XXVI JANUARY / MDCCCLXXXV". Further inscriptions on the stone plinth list his actions, clockwise from the south front: "CRIMEA 1855 N CHINA 1864 / QUINSAN SOOCHOW / SOUDAN KHARTOUM / GRAVESEND EQUATOR". These inscriptions record his service in theCrimean War; atKunshan ("Quinsan") andSuzhou ("Soochow") during theTaiping Rebellion while leading theEver Victorious Army; atGravesend while commanding theRoyal Engineers building defences along the River Thames; and inEquatoria (southern Sudan), inSudan ("Soudan") and atKhartoum.
The bronze plaques on either side of the plinth depict pairs of allegorical figures in relief, identified by further stone inscriptions, as "FORTITUDE" (with shield and sword) alongside "FAITH" (hooded), and "CHARITY" (with two children) alongside "JUSTICE" (blindfold, with scales and sword). The shield of Fortitude bears the legend "RIGHT / FEARS NO / MIGHT".
An identical statue by Thornycroft was installed in 1889 at Gordon Reserve inMelbourne, Australia, on the triangle betweenMacarthur Street andSpring Street to the south ofParliament House, facing towards theOld Treasury Building. It still stands on its original tall pedestal, which bears scenes from Gordon's life.
A different memorial statue byEdward Onslow Ford, depicting Gordon on a camel, stands atBrompton Barracks, Chatham, the home of theRoyal School of Military Engineering. It became Grade II* listed in 1998. A second cast of Ford's statue of Gordon on a camel was installed in Khartoum from 1904 until 1958. Shortly after Sudan achieved its independence, the statue was removed and reinstalled atGordon's School, near Woking, in 1959, where it has a Grade II listing.
Further memorial statues to Gordon stand in Aberdeen; in Gravesham, where the full length stone statue depicts Gordon in his army uniform with a sabre; and there is a Grade II listed monument in Southampton.
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