Playing the Great Classical Game: Sir Edwin Lutyens and the Imperial War Graves Commission

Thiepval Memorial to the missing of the Somme, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens

In this presentation, Professor Connelly looks at the most celebrated of the IWGC's architects. Lutyens work for the Commission reflected his growing engagement with Classical design principles and approaches. This talk examines his key works for the commission and places them into the context of his wider work and the ways in which his architecture and horticulture exert subliminal effects on the experience of visiting memorials and cemeteries.

Mark was Professor of Modern British Military History at the University of Kent until 2024, and Director of Gateways to the First World War. He now runs Connelly Contours, involving battlefields tours and more.

Mark has been our guest on numerous occasions in the past, giving talks on 'The Neuve Chapelle Memorial', 'Notes and Swearies: The Use of Blasphemy and Swearing in the BEF 1914-1918', 'This Painful Sacrifice: The Death of Prince Maurice of Battenberg, Princess Beatrice, and the burial of a royal body’ and most recently 'Experiencing the Somme (1919-1939)'.