Mapping British Public Monuments Related to Slavery

Abstract

This article is a product of the first complete survey of British public representational monuments in the U.K. related to transatlantic slavery, available online at Britishpublicmonumentsrelatedtoslavery.net. Identifying over 900 monuments, it brings this survey to bear on current public and policy debates about such monuments’ history, significance and meaning vis-à-vis slavery, art and heritage. Examining the monuments at scale, we identify the monuments’ patterns of production and provide data-led answers to specific questions such as what Britain’s most significant monumental legacies of slavery are; how enslaved people appear in British public monuments; and how this data might support rethinking these monuments.