1-232-980 - Reproduced by permission of Historic England/Heritage Images

Burghers of Calais, Victoria Tower Gardens, Millbank, Westminster, Greater London, 1945-1980. Detail of the Burghers of Calais sculpture cast in bronze by Auguste Rodin (1840-1917), with the Houses of Parliament in the background. Calais fell to Edward III of England in 1347, after a siege of almost a year. Six citizens offered their lives to save the town but were spared when Edward’s wife Philippa intervened. The sculpture dates from 1895, althugh it was not placed in this positiion until 1915.