| Examples of Daisy's Work
The Battle of Britain Roll
Daisy designed, lettered, and illuminated the Battle of
Britain Roll of Honour for Westminster Abbey chapel. It
contains the names of the 1,497 pilots and aircrew killed or
mortally wounded during the Battle of Britain. This work is
now regarded as a treasured piece of Art and a National
Treasure, kept safely in Westminster Abbey. |
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Daisy with the completed Battle of
Britain Roll of Honour in her Kensington Studio.
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The Roll of Honour seen beside the
Tomb of the Unknown Warrior in Westminster Abbey. |
Each year during Battle of Britain
Sunday, on the third Sunday in September, the Roll of
Honour is paraded around the abbey during the service. |
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She started work on the book in 1943 and as the book
grew in size she had more and more difficulty trying to move
it around and keep it safe from the German bombs that were
falling on London. Whilst working on the roll of honour
she broke her ankle and for a time had to be propped up at
her board with her leg in a plaster cast.
Because of the accident she took time off from teaching
at the Hammersmith School of Building & Arts and Crafts, and
devoted all of her time to complete the roll of honour. |
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When the Battle of Britain Roll of Honour
was unveiled to the nation, Daisy's students wrote the
following appreciation of the teacher they adored:
As a calligrapher, she must rank as one
of the few first class, not merely of
modern times but of all time. Her
alphabets, though they are based on
sound tradition as all good alphabets
must be, have an unusual
liveliness, beauty and proportion which
reflect the qualities of their creator.
Her style, inspiration and methods of
work are essentially her own. Her
productions are always original and
beautiful and are at once the joy and
despair of her contemporary
calligraphers. Perfect taste, complete
co-ordination between brain and hand,
sure judgement and untiring energy,
combine in her with knowledge and
inspiration to produce works of art of
the highest class.
To those unskilled in calligraphy,
with no knowledge of the traditions and
intricacies of the craft, her work is a
revelation of beauty and under her hand
our alphabet takes on a new meaning. Her
friend Eric Gill described her work as
"that intense concentration upon precise
perfection. . . which is genius."
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| The H.M.S. Hood Memorial Book |
Daisy with the H.M.S. Hood Memorial
Book in Boldre Church. Courtesy of Len Perry. |
One of Daisy's most well-known works, which can be seen
in the Church of St John the Baptist, Boldre
in the New
Forest, commemorates the crew of the
Admiral-class battle cruiser H.M.S. Hood which sank
on 24th May, 1941.
H.M.S. Hood and the King George V class
battleship, H.M.S. Prince of Wales were sent to intercept
the German battleship Bismarck, but within three
minutes of their encounter, H.M.S. Hood was struck by
several German shells and sunk with the loss of 1,418 lives.
There were only 3 survivors.
Boldre church has a small H.M.S. Hood chapel which
contains a painting of H.M.S. Hood, a small stained-glass
window and the encased Hood Memorial Book by Daisy Alcock.
Each year a service of remembrance for those who lost
their lives on the Hood is held at the church in the middle
of May. |
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The front page of the memorial
book. |
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The Church of St John the Baptist,
Boldre. |
| The Metropolitan Police Roll of
Honour Another of Daisy's projects was the
Metropolitan Police Roll of Honour that commemorates the
police officers who lost their lives in the First World
War. The following three illustrations are trial pages
for the book. |
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A decorative panel called "The
Faun" that was produced by Daisy. |
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A page from a song book. |
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Soon after the death of King
George VI in 1952, Daisy was commissioned by her friends
and former pupils to inscribe three verses of the
National Anthem on Vellum in honour of the late King.
Her design, which is now housed in
the Victoria and Albert Museum, incorporates two cherubs
gloriously playing the Anthem tune on trumpet and drum,
soaring high above Buckingham Palace.
It was included in an
exhibition commemorating 75 years of the Society of
Scribes & Illuminators.
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A page from one of Daisy's books. |
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An Easter card produced by Daisy
which includes an advert for her services. |
| The Order of Ministration for the
Public Baptism of Infants Holy Trinity Church
at Heath Town was Daisy's local church. On permanent
display in the church in a glass-topped case is a fine
example of her work that is dedicated to her father. The
case, which holds her 'Order of Ministration for the
Public Baptism of Infants' has her father's name and
date of birth and death carved along the top edge. |
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The glass-topped case in the
church. |
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The ornate lettering on the front
of the Order of Ministration for the Public Baptism of
Infants. |
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One of the pages from the book. |
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Another page from the book. |
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Monuments |
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