Just off Fenchurch Street you will find Fen Court, which was once the churchyard of St Gabriel's Fenchurch Street. This area is now in the Parish of St Edmund the King and St Mary Woolnoth. A few tombs remain among the grass and paved area, with a small bedded maze. But, the most striking feature, of this thoroughfare, is the granite pillars and what looks like a pulpit. This is the 'Gilt of Cain', or, the 'Cain Memorial to the Abolition of Slavery'.
The artwork comprises a group of columns, shaped like sugar cane, surrounding a podium, much like that used in a church or an auctioneer. Around each column are extracts from the poem 'Gilt of Cain', by Lemn Sissay. The podium contains a longer extract from the poem.
The memorial was designed by Michael Visocchi, in collaboration with poet Lemn Sissay, and was unveiled, in 2008, by Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Mpilo Tutu.
Michael Visocchi designed the granite sculpture to appear as though the columns were silent sentinels of a congregation, facing the podium. His idea was to shape the columns like sugar cane and for the podium to appear more like an auctioneer's stance, while also keeping in mind the ecclesiastical nature of the area.
Lemn Sissay's poem, 'Gilt of Cain', weaves Old Testament biblical references with the coded jargon from the trading floor of the City's stock exchange.
This site was chosen as the Reverend John Newton, who was a slave trader turned abolitionist, was rector of St Mary Woolnoth from 1780-1807. He famously worked closely with William Wilberforce to help bring about the abolition of the transatlantic slave trade. This was achieved in 1807 and brought about the process of the emancipation of slaves, throughout the British Empire.