Statue of Robert Raikes, London Statue of Robert Raikes, London A statue of Robert Raikes, often regarded as being the founder of Sunday schools, executed by the sculptor Thomas Brock, stands in Victoria Embankment Gardens, London, United Kingdom. It was unveiled by the Earl of Shaftesbury on 3 July 1880 and marked the centenary of the opening of the first Sunday school. The critic Edmund Gosse considered the statue to be "as good as anything of the kind we possess in England". In 1958 it was designated a Grade II-listed building. The front of the plinth reads: . An inscription below the figure's right foot
Cyril Raikes Cyril Raikes Cyril Probyn Napier Raikes was awarded the Military Cross in the World War I Mesopotamian Campaign flying in the British army's Royal Engineers monitoring the oil pipelines there. He had previously fought in the Boer War. Cyril Raikes was born 12 November 1875 in Swanmore, Hampshire, England the son of General Robert Napier Raikes. He was a Lieutenant in the Boer War, South Africa 1900-1902 gaining a medal and four bars. Before World War I he developed water services in Egypt and married Dora Roberts 1 February 1905. In World War I he was awarded the Military Cross