Royal Navy: West Africa Squadron slavery memorial without a Portsmouth home as campaigner blames taboo subject

Colin Kemp, of Portsmouth - who garnered donations for the already-built sculpture honouring the West Africa Squadron throughout the year - has been left crushed by the turn of events after campaigners were left without a key site in the city in which to place it.

It comes as the memorial has received nearly £70,000 of funding from 1,240 donors.

Provisional plans were in the works for the memorial to be placed at Gunwharf Quays, the site where sailors set off on their expeditions between 1807 and 1867. Nearly 1,600 personnel perished during various operations, with 150,000 Africans bound for the USA being freed.

Mr Kemp said despite positive discussions taking place with Landsec, the owners of Gunwharf, the rug was pulled out from the last minute. He has subsequently approached Portsmouth Historic Dockyard and Portsmouth City Council, to no avail.

“I think they have let the people of Portsmouth down,” Mr Kemp told The News: “The Squadron was based in Portsmouth and many of the current residents will probably have descendants who were in the West Africa Squadron, and they should be proud of Portsmouth. It’s the home of the Royal Navy.”

The campaigner said himself and the celebrated sculptor Vincent Gray held talks with Landsec over a couple of months. He added that centre management chose a potential site for it, and an architect was due to visit to draw up dimensions for a planning application. However, the day before he was due to arrive, Landsec turned down the proposal, Mr Kemp said.

He added: “It was a big shock, as we had been talking to people for so long and there never seemed to be a problem. The corporate headquarters in London got involved, and I think it’s because of the word ‘slavery’, they had a knee-jerk reaction and said ‘we’re not doing that’. It’s their site, and they do have the final say, but I think it’s disappointing.”

In a email to Mr Kemp seen by The News, Gunwharf Quays said after extensive discussions between the corporate affairs team and employee diaspora network, they decided it was not the right location.

They added in the correspondence: “As a business, we are committed to ensuring that all our places are welcoming and inclusive, with our purpose driving our decision making. We felt that on balance the proposed memorial lacked sensitivity and authenticity to what is a very emotive topic and dark part of our history as a nation. This would not be consistent with our purpose or what we are striving to achieve both at the centre but also across our wider business.”

When approached by The News, a Gunwharf Quays spokesperson said no official decision was made for the mural would be sited at the waterfront centre, with no decision being reversed.

They added: “We were approached by the West Africa Squadron Memorial Fund to discuss the possible placement of their memorial statue at Gunwharf Quays. Following consultations with the fund organisers and our teams internally, we concluded that our centre was not the right location for this memorial in its current design.

“We are committed to ensuring that the centre is welcoming and inclusive to all guests and staff, and don’t believe the memorial as it is currently designed would be consistent with that aim. To be clear, this isn’t about the principle of commemorating the West Africa Squadron, but specifically the design of the memorial which would not be in keeping with this setting. We wish the West Africa Squadron Memorial Fund the best of luck with their ongoing campaign.”

Following this, Mr Kemp said approached Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, and said he was stunned by their rejection. “I would have thought the historic dockyard was there to celebrate the achievements of the Royal Navy and British history. Their reply was quite terse. With the area around HMS Victory, there is plenty of space for a memorial.”

In response, a joint statement from Hannah Prowse, CEO of Portsmouth Historic Quarter, and Matthew Sheldon, CEO of the National Museum of the Royal Navy, said: “Portsmouth Historic Dockyard was approached in March 2024 to provide a home for the West African Squadron Memorial. Portsmouth Historic Quarter and the National Museum of the Royal Navy are ferociously committed to the recognising the service of Royal Navy sailors throughout history. However, we do so through our programmes of exhibitions, publications and events, which enable us to explore the complexities of those stories and to engage audiences by sharing multiple perspectives and wider context.

“Unfortunately a statue simply isn't able to do this, and though it commemorates some, it also neglects the story of thousands of others who lost their lives during this time. For this reason, we don't believe that this would support the purpose of the project - to truly engage people with this period of history - and therefore the Dockyard is not a suitable location for it.”

Informal discussions have been held between supporters of the memorial and local councillors for a potential location in the area of the renovated sea defences, with a formal meeting yet to be made. Mr Kemp also wrote to council leader Steve Pitt in December 2024. The campaigner is confident a home can be found for the sculpture, but possibly not in Portsmouth.

He added: “We’ve got 1,240 individual donors, and they’ve all been highly supportive of the project. I think it’s just people in authority not wanting to get involved in that because it’s got slavery in the title, without knowing the full story.”

A Portsmouth City Council spokesperson said: “We have not received a formal proposal to host this statue. Due to the historic nature of Portsmouth we have a very large number of monuments across the city, including many for the Royal Navy, as a result popular locations have reached saturation point where we are no longer able to consider new statues.

“The current Southsea Coastal Defence scheme has been through numerous phases of public consultation to ensure it provides an appropriate balance between the city's heritage and creating a vibrant waterfront and our plans already include a trail of sculptures and visual art working with artists and the local community. We would recommend anyone planning a memorial engage with us at the earliest opportunity to consider a range of important factors including potential designs and locations.”