Bromhead Memorial, Richmond upon Thames, London

Summary

Memorial to servicemen who were patients at the Royal Star and Garter Home who were not otherwise commemorated. 1957 signed Cecil Thomas.

Description

Materials: Portland stone with timber lintels.

Memorial in the form of a triptych set on a shaped stone base of three shallow steps which encompasses the whole memorial and between shaped buttress walls which extend to the front of the monument. The panels are set between stone piers with moulded cushion capitals, above which are a pair of parallel rows of timber lintels which extend beyond the piers at either end. The central panel has a scrolled head flanking a central finial in the form of a lighted torch and is inscribed:

THIS MONUMENT IS / ERECTED IN MEMORY / OF THOSE PATIENTS / WHO HAVE DIED IN THE / STAR AND GARTER HOME / FOR DISABLED SAILORS /
SOLDIERS AND AIRMEN / WHO ARE NOT OTHERWISE / COMMEMORATED AND / WHOSE NAMES ARE / INSCRIBED HEREON / AND IN THE BOOK AT THE HOME

This rear wall of the memorial commemorates 205 ex-servicemen. Each panel is inscribed with a roll of honour set out in chronological sequence from 1928 to 1958, beginning with the left hand panel. The names continue on the reverse of the memorial, spanning the years 1970-1977.

Set forward from the rear wall and perpendicular to it, is a lower spine wall with chamfered piers at the angles, and an oversailing chamfered parapet. It is inscribed on both faces, each commemorating 51 ex-servicemen, covering the years 1961-66 to the left and 1966-70 to the right. To the front is a seated, sentinel lion.

The riser of the step to the front of the memorial is inscribed:

Given by Lt Col AC Bromhead CBE JP / Chairman of the House Committee of Governors 1915-1956.

To the front of the memorial, commemorative slabs to AC Bromhead and his wife are inscribed:

In most loving memory of the same / Lt Col Alfred Claude Bromhead CBE JP / Who died 5th March 1963 aged 86 / at Petersham / Beloved husband and father / His ashes lie here / His life and devotion to family / Was an example and inspiration to many / and / In loving memory of his wife / Margaret Eileen Bromhead / A former matron and governor / Of the Star and Garter Home / Who died 18th October 1978 / Aged 72

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 16 June 2017.

History

The Star & Garter Committee was set up in 1915, under the auspices of the British Red Cross Society and at the instigation of Queen Mary, to look into the care of invalid and incurable servicemen injured in the First World War. The Auctioneers and Estate Agents Institute purchased the old Star & Garter Hotel on Richmond Hill and handed the deeds to Queen Mary who, in turn, entrusted the building to the British Red Cross Society. Initially the Society looked after 65 young servicemen. After The Star & Garter became an independent charity in 1922 and it was apparent that the building was not suitable to meet their needs, the former hotel was demolished and the current building was erected on the same site.

The new purpose-built home was designed by Sir Edwin Cooper and funded by the British Women's Hospital Committee under the auspices of Queen Mary. It was Her Majesty, along with King George V, who opened the new home in July 1924. The Charity has operated within the same building on Richmond Hill since that time, but in 2013 will move from Richmond in response to the changing needs of residents and to meet the requirement for the provision of care in other areas across the country.

Former residents of the home are buried in two sections within the nearby Richmond Cemetery, where only the standard headstone, similar to those placed by the War Graves Commission, is permitted. One of the two sections is marked by the Bromhead Memorial which was set up in 1957 to honour ex-servicemen who were not otherwise commemorated. It is inscribed with a roll of honour of 307 names, set out in chronological sequence from 1928 to 1977.

The memorial was a gift from the Bromhead family, dedicated to Lt. Col. AC Bromhead, CBE, JP, a former Governor of the Star and Garter Home, and to his wife Mrs Margaret Bromhead, a former matron and Governor at the home. The memorial was designed by Cecil Thomas OBE, FRBS. It was unveiled in October 1957 by the President of the Home, Field-Marshall Lord Alanbrooke and was dedicated by the Bishop of Southwark.

CW Thomas, OBE, FRBS (1885-1976) trained as a sculptor, medallist and gem engraver in his father’s studio and at the Slade School of Fine Art and Central School of Arts and Crafts, London. During the First World War he was on active service before he was seconded to the intelligence service, while during the Second World War he continued as a model maker at Medmenham reconnaissance unit. A commission to design memorials to the two sons of Lord Forster of Lepe, after the First World War, led to further commissions for church and cathedral monuments such as the memorial at the Toc H Guild church, Tower Hill, London. His designs for medals and coins for the Royal Mint included the Coronation medals for Queen Elizabeth II and some of the first coinage issued in her reign.

Richmond Cemetery is unusually endowed with war memorials and war graves since it also includes the burial ground for thirty-nine South African soldiers who are commemorated by the South African War Memorial, designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens and unveiled by General JC Smuts in June 1921.

Reasons for Listing

The Bromhead Memorial in Richmond Cemetery, 1957, designed by Cecil Thomas, OBE, FRBS, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Design interest: a distinctive memorial designed by the noted sculptor Cecil Thomas, who had also served during the First World War;Thomas had recently received acclaim having designed some of the first coinage for the reign of Queen Elizabeth II and the Coronation medals.
* Historic interest: a gift from the former Governor of the Star and Garter Home, to commemorate those servicemen who had died while resident at the home and who were not commemorated elsewhere.

External Links

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