'The Angel of Pity' in the Memorial Garden, Cawnpore, 1867

Photograph, India, 1867.

During the Indian Mutiny (1857-1859) the bodies of several of the victims of the Cawnpore massacre were thrown down this well near the Bibigarh (or House of the Ladies) in July 1857. After Cawnpore's recapture a small memorial was placed at the well by the British. This was later replaced by a Memorial Garden over which Carlo Marochetti's angel and Henry Yule's memorial screen were erected. The inhabitants of Cawnpore were forced to pay the £30,000 cost of the memorial as punishment for the massacre.

For much of its 85 year existence the well memorial garden was the iconic site of imperial remembrance in the British Raj. During the latter years of the 19th century it was reportedly visited more frequently by Europeans than the Taj Mahal. The monument was removed in 1949 following Indian independence.

From an album of 99 items including photographs, watercolours, press cuttings and prints, 1853-1878, compiled by Colonel Montague Hall.