End of the poppies: Hundreds of volunteers begin removal of Tower of London display

AS TORRENTIAL showers soaked the Tower of London, hundreds of volunteers began pulling up 888,246 ceramic poppies forming the Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red display.

Volunteers begin taking down the 888,246 ceramic poppies forming the Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red displayGETTY

Volunteers begin taking down the 888,246 ceramic poppies

The art installation – which became the focal point of yesterday's Armistice Day commemorative events – will take two weeks to dismantle.

Thousands gathered around the crimson moat yesterday to watch 13-year-old army cadet Harry Hayes plant the final poppy, ushering in a two-minute silence.

There is a bit of me that sort of says if you are going to miss it when it is gone, that's kind of what we were trying to achieve and actually it is good that it is going

John Brown, deputy governor of the Tower of London

Each of the 888,246 hand-made flowers represents a British or Commonwealth death in the First World War.

Overall around 8,000 volunteers are expected to take part in the removal of the celebrated art installation.

The ceramic heads of the poppies will be cleaned and packaged into commemorative boxes and sent to hundreds of thousands of people who each paid £25 for the blooms.

But parts of the installation will now go on show after a successful public campaign to keep them on display.

The Weeping Willow, a poppy cascade that spills from a window of the castle, and the Wave, which springs out of the moat in an arch over the Tower entrance, will go on tour around the country until 2018, when they will be gifted to the Imperial War Museums in London and Manchester.

Armistice Day 2 Minute Silence

The Wave from the Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red display has been extendedGETTY

The Wave from the Blood Swept Lands And Seas Of Red display has been extended

One of the 8,000 volunteers helping cradles a ceramic poppy GETTY

One of the 8,000 volunteers helping cradles a ceramic poppy

Volunteers braved the torrential rain to dismantle the displayGETTY

Volunteers braved the torrential rain to dismantle the display

The Wave will stay in place at the Tower until the end of November, according to Historic Royal Palaces, which commissioned the display by ceramicist and University of Derby graduate Paul Cummins.

University of Derby Vice-Chancellor Professor John Coyne said: "We are immensely proud of Paul's success. 

"This has become one of the most famous art installations of all time.

"It really is breathtaking."

Deputy governor of the Tower of London John Brown, who is overseeing the removal of the poppies, said: "It is a nice compromise that the two [parts] can go on, but also actually I am quite of a strong view about the artistic intent of this, this was never intended to last, it reflected the young lives who were lost on a tragic scale.

"There is a bit of me that sort of says if you are going to miss it when it is gone, that's kind of what we were trying to achieve and actually it is good that it is going.

"The other point I would add to that is that actually a lot of people have taken this really personally, so people have bought poppies and associate this with a relative. 

"They don't want them sitting out here in the cold during the winter. 

"They want them looked after and taken away and cared for, so the volunteers here are doing a really cracking job of getting them out and getting them across to people as soon as we can."

Mr Brown added that his team had been swamped by thousands of messages of thanks and support – including more than 5,000 people who sent messages of gratitude to his personal work email.

General the Lord Dannatt, Constable of the Tower of London, said: "On behalf of Historic Royal Palaces and the Tower of London I would like to offer my most sincere and humble thanks to the millions of people from around the world who have supported our installation to mark the centenary anniversary of the First World War.

"From the volunteers who helped to plant the poppies, to those that have purchased their own poppy, those that dedicated names for our Roll of Honour and to all the many members of the public who have visited to pay their respects.

"The great thing about it is that people are engaged with this.

"We always hoped the installation would capture the public imagination yet we could not predict the level of support we have received and for this we are truly grateful. 

"Every poppy represents a life lost and a family shattered."

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