henry moore sculpture 
Dorothy and Leonard Elmhirst commissioned Memorial Figure in 1945 as a tribute to Christopher Martin, Dartington’s first Arts Administrator, who had died the previous year.
Situated in the Dartington Hall Gardens, at the top of the Tiltyard terraces the sculpture is Grade II listed (click here to find out more about what listing means).
Carved from Hornton stone, Moore finished the work in 1946 and chose its site with great care, so that the curves of the sculpture could echo the rolling hills in the distance. It has been recognised as ‘perhaps the most serene and elegiac piece of Moore’s entire career, perfectly balanced and harmonious…’ (Roger Berthoud).
Moore himself wrote, ‘I wanted it to convey a sense of permanent tranquillity, a sense of being from which the stir and fret of human ways had been withdrawn. All the time I was working on it I was very much aware that I was making a memorial to go into an English scene that is itself a memorial to many generations of men who have engaged in a subtle collaboration with the land.’
The gardens are open to the public all year round. Unfortunately, due to the nature of our listed gardens some areas cannot be accessed by visitors in wheelchairs.
Click here for a map.
The Dartington Hall Trust is a registered charity no. 279756. Company
no. 1485560
Registered Office: The Elmhirst Centre, Dartington Hall, Totnes, Devon
TQ9 6EL United Kingdom.
Telephone 01803 847000; Fax 01803 847007;