Newbury Town War Memorial, Newbury, West Berkshire

Summary

War memorial, 1922.

Description

War Memorial, 1922.

ARCHITECT: the memorial was designed by Sir Mervyn Macartney, FRIBA, FSA, and the masons (for both phases) were Messrs T Thorn and Sons of Newbury. The bronze work was by Messrs Gardners and Sons of Bristol.

MATERIALS: the memorial shaft and the screen wall are Portland stone, and the base is limestone. The inscribed plaques are cast bronze.

PLAN: the memorial occupies a quadrant plot, separated from the north-east corner of St Nicholas’s churchyard by a curved screen wall adjoining the churchyard walls, and bounded from the street by iron railings. It rises from a stepped octagonal base.

DESCRIPTION: a 5m tall lantern cross which consists of an octagonal shaft topped with a Decorated gothic-style tabernacle with florid mouldings, and four canopied niches containing saints – Nicholas, Michael, George and Martin – with angel corbels. It has an octagonal pedestal upon a square base, on a base of four octagonal steps.

Behind it is a screen wall of two stages. The lower stage encloses the memorial from the churchyard and has 13 rectangular plaques, the central one of which is inscribed ‘IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 – 1918’, with those to the sides listing the names of the 338 fallen men, and one woman.

An upper stage was added to the centre of the screen wall following the Second World War. It has seven panels, the central one of which is inscribed ‘IN MEMORY OF THOSE WHO GAVE / THEIR LIVES IN THE WORLD WAR / 1939 – 1945’, with the names of 171 men on the panels to either side. The upper stage of the screen has iron rails to either side, joining it to the churchyard walls.

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, 10 January 2017.

History

The First World War claimed the lives of hundreds of thousands of English men and affected the entire nation. A surge of public commemoration was made in the years following the end of the conflict, with memorials built to honour the dead of the locality, many of whose bodies could not be repatriated. War memorials provided a focal point for grief in the absence of graves. The memorial in Newbury town centre commemorates the 338 local men, and one woman, who died in the conflict; it was added to following the Second World War.

The memorial was a joint venture between parishioners of the church of St Nicholas and civic representatives, funded by public subscription. A replica of the churchyard cross at the Church of St Mary, Cricklade (qv, NHLE ref 1023108) was proposed by Sir Mervyn Macartney, FSA, FRIBA, (1853-1931), consulting architect to St Paul's Cathedral.

The newspaper report of the unveiling notes some debate over the order in which the names of the fallen were listed; the result was decided by ballot to ensure no suggestion of precedence. The name of the single female victim comes first on the list, followed by the name of the first man to be killed. Names were originally inscribed on 12 stone plaques.

A grand unveiling ceremony took place on Sunday 22 October 1922, a detailed account of which was reported in the Newbury Weekly News. It was led by the Bishop of the Oxford Diocese and the Town Mayor, and attended by the clergy and ministers from all denominations, and around 8,000 spectators.

The memorial was added to following the Second World War, to record the names of the 171 local men who died in the conflict. A second stage was added to the wall, replacing a row of iron railings by the Porter Turk and Co Foundry of Newbury, and the original heavily weathered incised stone plaques were replaced with bronze versions, creating a uniform appearance with the new additions. New railings were installed on either side of the new section of screen wall; matching railings were installed enclosing the monument from the street some time later.

Reasons for Listing

The Newbury Town War Memorial, 1922, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: a poignant reminder and a legible record of the impact of the tragic international conflict on the local population;
* Architectural interest: inspired by the C14 churchyard cross at Cricklade, it is a dignified design, appropriate to its site, and by a prominent late C19-early C20 architect, Sir Mervyn Macartney;
* Group value: the memorial is structurally integrated with the Grade II* listed churchyard gates, and has a strong visual relationship with the Grade I listed church and a number of other listed buildings.

External Links

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