This powerful sculpture commemorates the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade in 1807, which began the process of the emancipation of slaves throughout the British Empire. Fen Court in the City of London is the site of a churchyard with a strong historical connection to the abolitionist movement of the 18th and 19th centuries. The Rev John Newton, a slave-trader turned preacher and abolitionist (he’s the one who wrote “Amazing Grace”), was rector from 1780 – 1807. Newton worked closely alongside the famous abolitionist William Wilberforce.

The granite sculpture is composed of a group of columns surrounding a podium. The podium calls to mind a church pulpit or slave auctioneer’s block; the columns evoke stems of sugar cane and are positioned to suggest an anonymous crowd or congregation gathered to listen to a speaker. Extracts from Lemn Sissay’s poem, ‘Gilt of Cain’, are engraved into the granite. The poem  weaves the coded language of the City’s stock exchange trading floor with biblical Old Testament references. The monument was unveiled by Archbishop Desmond Tutu in 2007 on the 200th anniversary of the abolition of the slave trade. read more…