Tommy Thompson

The gilded Portland stone cross on the west gable of Westminster Abbey is a memorial to Thomas (Tommy) G. Thompson, Secretary and Executive Director of the Westminster Abbey Trust. The Trust was set up in 1973 to raise money for the restoration of the exterior of the Abbey and later the interior of Henry VII's chapel. H.R.H. Philip, Duke of Edinburgh was President and Chairman. By the end of the appeal in 1995 over £23 million had been raised.

Tommy Thompson (born in 1920), who came from Belfast, was a tireless fundraiser at home and in America and his memorial service took place, attended by the Duke, on 2nd May 1991 in the Abbey. The inscription on the rim of the base of the cross, which was designed by Donald Buttress, reads:

In memoriam T.G. Thompson 1991

Together with various others he has a small carved head high up on the exterior of the apse of the Abbey and his initials appear in the west window of Henry VII's chapel, together with other donors and those connected with the Trust.