The Navigators’ Memorial
Description:
Tablet fixed to the wall in the south cloister of Westminster Abbey.
Measuring 3ft 6 ins by 2 ft 6 ins
Memorial to Captain James Cook, Sir Francis Drake and Sir Francis Chichester.
Mosaic of coloured Devon marbles, with marble inlay, pictorial and cartographic in aspect. Featuring a map of the world with three ships of Cook, Drake and Chichester. On the map are lines showing the routes taken by the three ships
The memorial has a border of Portland stone depicting doves, dolphins and an oak and laurel branch..
History:
Designed by Eric Fraser. Made by Messrs Whitehead, marble masons, Kennington. Border carved by Arthur Ayres, sculptor.
Commissioned by the Rt Hon Edward Heath M.B.E., M.P., financed by private means.
Commemorates 400 years of England’s re-eminence in seamanship and navigation.
On October 4th, 1979, (Saint Francis’s day), the Memorial was unveiled and dedicated to the memory of Sir Frances Drake, Captain James Cook, and Sir Francis Chichester.
During the dedication service the seconds pendulum, used by Cook for observations on the first voyage, was carried by the Rt Hon Arthur Bottomley, M.P., President of the Captain Cook Trust, from the West Door and presented to the Dean of Westminster, and laid upon the High Altar.
Inscription:
ORBEM CIRCUMNAVICARUNT
(In Latin around the edge, translated as)
Circumnavigators of the world, Sir Francis Drake, James Cook, Sir Francis Chichester
GPS Coordinates: 51.499292, -0.127310
References:
Cook’s Log, page 224, vol. 6, no. 4 (1983).
Cook’s Log, page 1231, vol. 19, no. 1 (1996).
Cook’s Log, page 1306, vol. 19, no. 3 (1996).
Endeavour Lines, page 15, no. 46 (April 2006)
Website: https://www.westminster-abbey.org/abbey-commemorations/commemorations/james-cook