The image at the top of this page is called ‘The Children of Calais’ and is the work of local artist Ian Wolter. It is located in Dorset House Garden, adjacent to St Mary’s Parish Church, and was unveiled on 8 June 2018 by Lord Alf Dubs
The Children of Calais portrays six British children as refugees caught in the present migration crisis. Their poses echo Auguste Rodin’s famous the Burghers of Calais, completed in 1895.
Rodin’s solemn composition commemorates an event during the siege of Calais in 1347. The English King offered to spare the lives of the people of the city on condition that six of its burghers would surrender themselves. Although they expected to be executed, the burghers’ lives were spared by the intervention of the English queen.
The Children of Calais evokes a parallel narrative: the desperate situation of the young refugees, and the potential for humanity to yet hold sway.