Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, by Sir Edwin Lutyens with later additions for the Second World War.

Description

The memorial comprises a Doric column of grey granite surmounted by a bronze statue of St George by Sir George Frampton RA. The column rises from a square, two-stage plinth , itself set on a shallow three-stage square base. Overall, the memorial is 10m tall. Inscriptions on the upper stage of the plinth read:
(North): MCMXIV /TO/ MCMXIX/ 1914-19 1939-45 / IN EVER/ GLORIOUS MEMORY/ OF/ HOVE CITIZENS/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ IN THE/GREAT WAR/ AND WORLD WAR

(East): MCMXXXIX/ TO/ MCMXLV

(South): MCMXIV/ TO/ MCMXIX/ THEIR NAME/ LIVETH/ FOR EVERMORE

(West): MCMXXXIX/ TO/ MCMXLV

Low stone bollards stand outside the four corners of the memorial; these are original components. Immediately alongside each is metal lamp pillar. These are modern, and are not of special interest.

This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 26/10/2015

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 5 October 2017.

History

At Hove a war memorial committee was set up in January 1919. The first site selected, in Palmeira Gardens, was rejected by the landowner, the Trustees of the Wick Estate. Three other sites were put forward – the foot of St John’s Road near the sea wall and two in Grand Avenue – one at the junction with Church Road and the other further south in the middle of Grand Avenue: Lutyens chose the latter in June 1920.

His suggestions for an obelisk or cenotaph (for which a wooden mock-up was built on Hove Lawns) were rejected in favour of a column surmounted by a bronze statue of St George by Sir George Frampton RA. It is very similar to the war memorial in Fordham (Cambridgeshire; listed Grade II) and cost £1,537. The names of the fallen are inscribed on a bronze plate in the vestibule of Hove Library. It was unveiled by Lord Leconfield, the Lord Lieutenant of Sussex, on 27 February 1921.

Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) was the leading English architect of his generation. Before the First World War his reputation rested on his country houses and his work at New Delhi, but during and after the war he became the pre-eminent architect for war memorials in England, France and the British Empire. While the Cenotaph in Whitehall (London) had the most influence on other war memorials, the Thiepval Arch was the most influential on other forms of architecture. He designed the Stone of Remembrance which was placed in all Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries and in some cemeteries in England, including some with which he was not otherwise associated.

Reasons for Listing

Hove War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principle reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed extant 58 memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall;
* Design: a rare Doric column memorial by Lutyens;
* Sculptural interest: the column is surmounted by a bronze statue of St George by Sir George Frampton RA;
* Group value: with several listed building on the east side of Grand Avenue.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Hove War Memorial at Wikipedia
• Wikidata Q26482745

External links are from the relevant listing authority and, where applicable, Wikidata. Wikidata IDs may be related buildings as well as this specific building. If you want to add or update a link, you will need to do so by editing the Wikidata entry.

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