Designed by Jean Omer Marchand and
John A. Pearson, the tower is a
campanile whose height reaches 92.2 m (302 ft 6 in), over which are arranged a multitude of
stone carvings, including approximately 370
gargoyles,
grotesques, and
friezes, keeping with the
Victorian High Gothic style of the rest of the parliamentary complex. The walls are of
Nepean sandstone and the roof is of reinforced concrete covered with
copper. At its base is a
porte-cochère within four
equilateral pointed arches, the north of which frames the main entrance of the Centre Block, and the jambs of the south adorned by the
supporters of the
Royal Arms of Canada. Near the apex, just below the steeply pitched roof, are the tower's 4.8 m (16 ft) diameter clock faces, Although the flag was initially changed once per week, the Department of Public Works began changing it every day starting in 1998. The retired flags are mailed free of charge to citizens on a waiting list to receive one. By 2014 the backlog had reached a 42-year waiting time. In 1981, a new inclined elevator was installed. It travels on a 10° angle for the first , shifting its position horizontally , and straight up for the remainder of the climb. The elevator car stays level at all times during its movement because it has a gimbal-mounted double frame. Before the installation of the new elevator, the observatory had been reached by taking first one elevator, then climbing a flight of stairs to a second elevator.
Memorial Chamber The Peace Tower was designed by architect
John A. Pearson not only to stand as an architectural feature and landmark, but also to function as a
memorial to Canadians who had given their lives during the Great War. It thus houses the Memorial Chamber, a vaulted 7.3 m by 7.3 m (24 ft by 24 ft) room directly above the porte-cochere, Amidst the carved marble plaques detailing Canadian military involvement since Confederation, five marble plaques on display in the Memorial Room present literary passages. Two plaques contain (in English and French)
"In Flanders Fields" by Canadian physician Lieutenant-Colonel
John McCrae. One plaque has an excerpt from French-Canadian author
Gabrielle Roy's novel ''
Bonheur d'occasion (The Tin Flute). Psalm 139:8-10 from the Bible is etched on another plaque in both French and English. A fifth plaque is inscribed with the moving poem "On Going to the Wars"'' by Canadian writer
Earle Birney:
Sculpture Various elements within the room were formed with stone quarried from the battlefields of
Europe: from the United Kingdom came
Hoptonwood limestone; from Belgium, black marble for the wall plinths and altar steps, as well as St. Anne marble for the clustered columns that support the
fan vault ceiling from each corner of the room; and from France,
Château-Gaillard stone for the walls and the vault itself, as well as stone from
Flanders' fields. These materials were worked into 700 carved elements by a number of different artists and sculptors under the direction of Ira Lake, who desired to tell not only the complete story of Canada's participation in the First World War, but also to commemorate military units as far back as the 17th century regime of
New France. of
Parliament Hill, showing a section through the Memorial Chamber with elevation of the north wall and the staircase that rises behind it Around the entrance archway are
The Sword of Victory—a
bas-relief above the opening—and two stone lions by Pearson, the modeller Charles Adamson, and the sculptor Cléophas Soucy, each bearing a shield; the shield to the left bears the
Dragon of Destruction and the date
1914, while that on the right shows the
Dove of Peace perched on a crown and the date
1918. Within the
tympanum of the
antechamber's arch is the sculpted work by Pearson and Soucy, ''The Tunnellers' Friends'', which shows representations of animals that served during the war: reindeer, pack mules, carrier pigeons, horses, dogs, canaries, and mice, all above the inscription "The tunnellers' friends, the humble beasts that served and died". Around the
archivolt at the other end of the entrance passage are sculpted animals and insects, such as beetles, spiders, lizards, butterflies, rats, hares, bats, birds, frogs, and bees; John Pearson stated that these were to represent the flora and fauna of Canada. The inscription around this arch is an excerpt from John Ceredigion Jones' poem
The Returning Man: "All's well for over there among his peers a happy warrior sleeps". The walls of the Memorial Chamber are divided into 17
niches designed by Ira Lake and
Archer Fortescue Duguid. Each contain a marble slab under a gothic
blind arch topped with a
gablet and
finial, and decorated with various badges and insignia, including those of, on the
mouldings: Canada's 178 pre-1914 militia regiments; in the pierced
quatrefoil panels: cavalry, and non-infantry field units; in the
diaper background: pre-Confederation French and British regiments and colonial forces; on the gablet
crockets: reinforced battalions; on the gablet
springers: all branches of the Canadian Corps; on the arch quatrefoil and cusps: Badges and insignia of Canada's 178 pre-1914 militia regiments: The Royal Canadian Dragoons, Lord Strathcona's Horse (Royal Canadians), The Governor General's Body Guard, 1st Hussars, 2nd Dragoons, 3rd The Prince of Wales' Canadian Dragoons; on the arch
spandrels: medals and war decorations of the allied countries; on the shield: coats of arms appropriate to the relevant historical context; and on the low relief panel: historical scenes of Canadians during World War I. The marble panels themselves originally described the various campaigns and battles in the theatres of war between 1914 and 1918. These, however, were replaced in 1982 with panels illustrating the Canadian Forces' engagements from the
Fenian Raids to the
Korean War, along with excerpts from the Bible, poems, and other literature.
Windows After John Pearson canvassed British artists in stained glass for designs for the Memorial Chamber's windows, he settled on Frank S.J. Hollister of Toronto for the task; Hollister's proposal was presented in 1925 to the
Department of Public Works for the
Governor-in-Council's approval. Each of the three 7 m by 3.5 m windows is divided into vertical quadrants by stone mullions and contain
allegorical figures amongst heraldic symbols, including the Royal Arms of Canada, the arms of each of the provinces, and those of the United Kingdom. ;
The Call to Arms This window displays four allegories:
Victory, as a woman holding a crown and surrounded by a
laurel branch and a helmet on a shield;
Labour, a male figure amongst objects such as a shovel, spinning wheel, and
astrolabe, with the motto
Fortitudo Industria et Pax (Strength Industry and Peace);
Progress, a man holding a book and quill, surrounded by a celestial crown,
weighing scales,
hourglass, and
galley; and
Science, a male holding a microscope and flask, amongst symbols such as a globe and torch, all below a ribbon indicating metallurgy, mineralogy, and chemistry. These four figures are arranged above four lower panels, the first showing three inscriptions: "Thanks be to God who give thus the victory", from 1 Corinthians 15:57, "Faith unto death", and "Acquit ye like men be strong", both from 1 Corinthians 16:13. Also in this section is a crowd of people bearing shields and spears, who represent the people of Canada uniting in response to the call of the man shown in the second panel, who holds a sword and trumpet, calling "To arms"; at his side is a child holding flowers, representing faith and courage. This section also displays the words "Thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle", from Psalm 18:39. In the third panel stands a woman supporting a rod entwined with winged serpents, the
Rod of Asclepius, characterising the nurses of battle, and below her is the phrase "True worth that never knows ignoble defeat shines with undimmed glory", taken from
Horace's Odes. The fourth bay displays a group of men and horses congregating from farms, offices, and factories, while a fleet of ships rests at bay awaiting the men to carry them to war. ;
The Assembly of Remembrance This is the south window, the first panel of which shows the
archangel Michael holding a trumpet, representing the call to battle, and, above his head, a seated woman with children at her knee, symbolising the sacrifices of women and children in the name of liberty, honour, and justice, while in the lower portion an armoured figure bears the Crown of Victory in his hands. The second panel contains the inscriptions: "At the going down of the sun and in the morning we will remember them", taken from the work of
Laurence Binyon, and "Freedom is the sure possession of those alone who have courage to defend it", from
Pericles, as well as, in the lower portion, an armoured figure holding a
flambeau, and, in the upper part,
St. George slaying the dragon. The third panel contains
Lady Justice bearing the Scales of Justice and the Great Sword of Judgement, the sword-guard of which shows a figure in a
crucifixion pose—representing suffering for both the victors and the defeated—and below her the words "" (Justice liberty in perpetuity). Beneath Lady Justice in this panel is the heroic figure of Canada wearing armour and helmet and holding the laurel wreath of victory, but looking mournfully at the Book of Remembrance, and behind her are two other persons, one symbolising Canadian motherhood and the other
First Nations. The fourth quadrant shows
Joan of Arc bearing a shield and standing before the
royal coat of arms of France. ;
The Dawn of Peace Similar to the other windows, this one shows four figures across the top portion. The first of these is the figure of the
Victory of Peace, holding both a palm branch and the sword of judgement, while a dove flies overhead. The second person shown is that of
Prosperity, who holds a wheat sheaf and a sicle, and, next to him, is
Progress, bearing a winged wheel and with the Lamp of Knowledge above his head. The fourth figure is
Plenty, symbolising the replenishment of both material and spirit through noble pursuit. Arranged in the lower portion of the window is a crowd of people assembled in peace and led by three figures in the foreground and bearing the symbols of their trades:
Industry holds a
mallet and
dynamo,
Agriculture bears a
scythe,
Honour carries a torch inscribed with words from
John McCrae's poem
In Flanders Fields: "Be the torch yours to hold it high", and
Motherhood, who is surrounded by children. At the base of the second and third panels are the phrases: "He maketh wars to cease", from Psalm 46:9, and "Judgement shall return unto righteousness", from Psalm 94:15.
Carillon " and "
God Save the King" on the Peace Tower Carillon on its opening day,
Canada Day 1927. Accompanying the Peace Tower clock is a 53-bell
carillon, conceived by an act of parliament as a commemoration of the
1918 armistice that ended World War I and was inaugurated on 1 July 1927, the 60th anniversary of
Confederation. The
bourdon ('largest') bell weighs and the smallest weighs . They encompass a
range of 4.5
octaves on the keyboard. All 53 bells were cast and tuned by
Gillett & Johnston, a
bell foundry based in
Croydon, England. Each bell is stationary and is struck by its internal clapper, itself mechanically linked to the carillon keyboard, to create a note, a particular one on the music scale for each bell. In this way, the carillon plays similarly to a piano, allowing the carillonneur to change the sounds by varying the way he or she strikes the keys. ==History==