The Verdun Memorial Bench
The Verdun Memorial Bench at Kew Gardens
It could be so that many Kew Garden visitors choose to take a rest at this memorial bench without realising the meaning of it.
Hope and Remembrance
The Verdun Seat from the hope side
The Verdun Seat from the remembrance side
It immediately caught my eye as something extraordinary, and a carved inscription beneath the seat tells the story that the wood comes from an acorn found at the battlefield of Verdon in 1919 and planted in Kew Gardens. It grew up to become a huge tree.
The Battle of Verdun was one of the longest and deadliest battles of the First World War, lasting from February to December 1916, between French and German soldiers.
The wood is taken from that oak that was damaged in a storm in 2013 and made into this memorial for the First World War. The surface is smooth like silk and gave me a feeling of peace at the same time as it’s unique shape reminded me of barbed wire and war.
Inscriptions on both sides of the seat about the seat and part of a War Poem by Binyon, 1914. “For the Fallen”.
It’s situated close to the main entrance, so most visitors see it at once. Nearby another WWI and WWII Memorial commemorates the fallen soldiers connected to the Royal Parks.
The WWI Memorial in Kew Gardens. Built as a Greek temple.
The inscription of the fallen soldiers’ names on the war memorial in Kew Gardens
Many school classes visit the Kew Gardens, and I hope their teachers will tell the story of the WWI seat.
View of the Palm House from the Hope Side of the bench
From one Heart to Another 
What a beautiful bench. This is so interesting – I love history. Such a nice post – thank you for sharing this.
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How remarkable. That bench must be a prime target for tourists, the story connected to it and the design are so unique! Certainly the plague with the names always makes me melancholy. Thank you for bringing these sites to us!
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I am glad I managed to correct a spelling error on the Verdun name before you saw it. I have a feeling that you have to know something in advance to appreciate such a war memorial. The number of lost lives from the First World War is horribly high
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Spelling errors happen to us all! As long as the sentiment is there, I never say anything.
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Quite a bench, and the acorn story is wonderful. Thanks for sharing.
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I am honoured to have your kind response. I get more focused on details as years go by blogging
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Thank you for taking the time to notice this lovely memorial.
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So good to hear from you Paula
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