Lewes Borough Council: papers concerning the memorials in the churchyard of St John-sub-Castro...

<p>For an engraving by W A Delamotte, published by W Grant, 5 Castle Square, Brighton, news agent, entitled 'Russian Prisoners, Lewes', showing the prisoners carving and selling their wooden toys and carvings in the courtyard of the prison, c1855 see PDA/L 38; for a photograph of the obelisk see C Brent and W Rector Victorian Lewes (1980) number 77; for a further copy of DL/D 183/3 see AMS 6005/14; for papers concerning the commemoration of peace at the end of the Crimean War, 1856 see LEW/C 9/13.</p>

Documents deposited 20 Apr 1983 (ACC 4051)

The documents in this class were collected by L S Davey, who for many years was the honorary archivist to Lewes Borough Council.

In July 1854 over 10,000 British and French troops set sail and attacked the as yet uncompleted fortress of Bomarsund on one of the islands in the Åland Archipelago which controlled the approaches to St Petersburg. The fortress was captured after two weeks along with 2,000 Russian and Finnish soldiers. The Russians were taken by the French to Le Havre while some 400 mostly Finnish prisoners came to Lewes. The soldiers billeted in the Naval Prison on North Street, under the command of the governor, Lieutenant Mann, while the officers, on their parole, lived in private lodgings in the town.

During the summer months the prison was open to visitors and sheds were arranged round the courtyard to enable the prisoners sell their wooden toys and carvings which became highly sought after. However, during their imprisonment 28 soldiers died and were buried in the nearby churchyard of St John-sub-Castro. Prior to their departure from Lewes the survivors erected a headstone in memory of their dead colleagues.

The headstone, which was restored in 1871 by the Churchwardens, had however become very worn by 1876 and it was decided to replace it with a more durable memorial. After consultations between the Rev Arthur Pearson Perfect of St John-sub-Castro Lewes and Major-General Alex de Gorloff, London, aide-de-camp of HM the Emperor of Russia, it was decided that an obelisk, designed by S Currey, architect and built by John Strong of Lewes, mason, should replace the headstone. The Rev Perfect organised the work and submitted the bill to the Russian Embassy. The monument was completed in 1877 at a cost of nearly £100 and was subsequently inspected by Major-General Gorloff.

Sources: DL/D/183; J Paasikivi in the British Medical Journal, 22 Jan 1977; W R Mead and S H Jaatinen, The Åland Islands (1975), 97-103; C Brent Historic Lewes (1995), 43; C Brent and W Rector, Victorian Lewes (1980) number 77.