A soldier at rest
Tommy does not charge, salute or celebrate. He sits in silence, carrying the weight of everything that came before 11:01.
Created by County Durham artist and steel fabricator Ray Lonsdale, the sculpture stands on Terrace Green near Seaham's war memorial. The soldier wears boots, puttees, a greatcoat and tin hat. His rifle is grounded, his eyes are lowered and his body seems exhausted by the conflict he has survived.
Eleven-O-One
The first minute
of peace.
The sculpture's official name is 1101, usually written as Eleven-O-One. It refers to 11:01am on 11 November 1918 the first minute after the Armistice came into force and the guns of the First World War fell silent.
That choice of moment changes the meaning of the work. This is not a monument to battle. It captures the stillness immediately afterwards: a soldier allowed, perhaps for the first time in years, simply to stop.
The name Tommy came naturally. “Tommy Atkins” had long been a familiar name for the ordinary British private soldier, and the affectionate shorthand quickly became the name Seaham adopted.
Made from steel
Built large.
Made human.
Tommy is constructed from Corten steel, a material designed to develop a stable, rust-coloured surface. Its warm red-brown patina suits the figure and continues to respond to Seaham's salt air and changing coastal light.
The statue stands 9 feet 5 inches (2.87 metres) tall and weighs around 1.2 tonnes. Yet the scale never overwhelms the emotion. Lonsdale formed the soldier from many separate pieces of steel, carefully building the folds of his greatcoat, the laces in his boots and the expression beneath his helmet.
In Ray Lonsdale's words
“It took three months solid to make Tommy, with a month spent just on his face.”Ray Lonsdale
A town makes him permanent
Temporary visitor.
Permanent resident.
Tommy was intended to spend only a short time in Seaham. The town had other ideas.
Tommy arrives
The sculpture was placed temporarily on the seafront during the centenary year marking the outbreak of the First World War.
Seaham rallies
Residents formed a committee and raised the £102,000 needed to purchase the sculpture and keep it in the town.
The target is met
Payment was completed on the centenary of Britain's entry into the First World War—a poignant date for the campaign.
A lasting place
Tommy moved onto a paved platform containing a time capsule filled with local artwork, remembrance items and a letter from his creator.
More than a landmark
Seaham did not simply buy a sculpture. It chose to keep a place for remembrance at the heart of the town.
Today, Tommy remains on Terrace Green looking no longer outward towards danger—he faces the town, the war memorial and, symbolically, home. Children stand beside his enormous boots and remembrance tributes gather around him. His stillness has become part of Seaham's seafront, and his permanence is as much the town's achievement as the artist's.