Following the end of World War I many artists and architects were commissioned by local communities to design a war memorial to commemorate the fallen from the Great War. Renowned architects including Sir Edwin Lutyens, who designed the Cenotaph in Whitehall, used their skills to design crosses, monuments, sculptures and other war memorials. This work tended to replace the projects they had been involved in prior to the outbreak of World War I.
The medium term plan, six lesson plans and associated resources can be used by teachers who want their pupils to find out about great artists, architects and designers in history. Pupils will find out about the lives of these artists, discover some of the symbols used in their work and have the opportunity to design their own war memorial.
These materials could be used as the art element of a local history, World War I or World War II topic. They could also be used as partof a class or whole school project to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the school’s local war memorial.