Blue plaque
Blue plaque ( German "Blue plaque " ) referred to in the UK , a public-mounted plaque that is intended to indicate a famous person or event. As a rule, it is a disk made of blue glazed ceramic or synthetic resin with a diameter of 48 centimeters, white lettering and a white border, which is attached to buildings or other permanent structures. It is usually two inches thick and firmly attached to the wall with mortar . Blue plaques are not necessarily blue; different organizations in the UK use different designs.
English Heritage plaques
The state monument protection organization English Heritage organizes the award of the Blue Plaques for London . It accepts nominations from the population. The condition is that the person has either been dead for 20 years or 100 years have passed since their birth. The criteria were established in 1954. Eminent personalities who have made an “important, positive contribution”, were “extraordinary and outstanding” and deserve national recognition are to be honored. Proposals need not necessarily come from UK citizens. If a person meets the criteria, the badge can be placed on a building that the person was connected to.
Originally this form of award only existed in London and was extended to other parts of England in 1998 ; the first plaque was unveiled here in Liverpool in 2000 . After English Heritage initially organized the nationwide award, it withdrew in 2005 to leave the field to regional organizations and has only been responsible for London since then. Cities taking part include Birmingham , Portsmouth and Southampton . Many other cities, although not participating in English Heritage , have been pursuing similar projects for many years.
English Heritage awards 20 new plaques every year. Lately only one badge per person has been allowed, even if in the past some names appeared in more than one place. Three plaques are dedicated to Dante Gabriel Rossetti and William Wilberforce , and two plaques to Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , William Morris and Virginia Woolf - sometimes together with other notable personalities (see illustration).
Controversy over the selection
In December 2006, an article in the Daily Telegraph accused English Heritage of violating its own selection criteria with the aim of getting more members of ethnic minorities on plaques. Many of the selected people are largely unknown. According to the article, some proposed and well-known whites, such as comedian Eric Morecambe and musician Marc Bolan , have been rejected on the grounds that they are of "insufficient rank or historical significance", while plaques have been given to some of African or Asian origin, though they were relatively unknown. An internal email quoted by the newspaper expressed a desire that "the cultural diversity of England's heritage in all its diversity should be recognized, respected and celebrated"; other documents showed that the government sponsored commemorative plaques for black people who had done a lot for the abolition of the slave trade .
The original blue plaques from London
The first blue plaque was put up in London's Holle Street in 1867 to commemorate Lord Byron . Back then, the action was sponsored by the Royal Society of Arts ; it was taken over in 1901 by London County Council and later by Greater London Council . When this was disbanded in 1985, English Heritage stepped in and later extended the operation to other parts of England. The idea has now been taken up by other organizations in the UK and the rest of the world. The Royal Society of Arts has given 13 plaques, London County Council 249 and Greater London Council 262; today there are over 800. However, many buildings with badges have already been torn down. The oldest plaque that survives to this day is on Gerrard Street and dates from 1875. The early plaques were dark brown, the current design is from 1937, with the white border added in 1939.
Curiosities
- The plaques for George Frideric Handel and Jimi Hendrix are placed next to each other at 25 and 23 Brook Street, Mayfair , London , W1.
- A plaque in 221B Baker Street, London, W1, is dedicated to the fictional character Sherlock Holmes . It was installed there at the instigation of the Sherlock Holmes Museum located there .
- The author William Wymark Jacobs received two plaques on the same day in 1998 in London and Loughton .
