Summary

War memorial, unveiled 1920, in the form of a Portland stone pillar set on a plinth.

Description

Tall, octagonal Portland stone pillar with a rounded finial, resting on a Portland stone plinth; near the top of the shaft is a band of Xs, and to the bottom a band of lozenges. The front face of the plinth is inscribed: TO THE OLD BOYS OF THIS SCHOOL / WHO ON THE THRESHOLD OF MANHOOD / GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1919 / LEAVING A GLORIOUS MEMORY AND AN / UNDYING EXAMPLE / THEY 'PLAYED THE GAME' TO THE END. The right and left faces bear the names of the Fallen. The plinth rests on a stone base.

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, 20 July 2017.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also the official policy of not repatriating the dead, which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

One such memorial was raised at Stanley School in Teddington as a permanent testament to the sacrifices made by pupils and Old Boys of the School. The idea of a memorial began to be discussed in February 1917; eventually a memorial was designed by Captain WT Curtis, Architect with Middlesex County Council, and executed by Messrs. Keates and Co. at a cost of £100. It was unveiled on 27 October 1920 in a ceremony attended by Headmaster GH Orton, Reverend Jackson Bush and many of the parents of the Fallen.

The names on the memorial were re-engraved in the early 2000s.

Reasons for Listing

Stanley School War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the school, and the sacrifices it made in the First World War;
* Design: as a poignant and imposing Portland stone pillar war memorial.

External Links

• Historic England Listing
• Wikidata Q66478659

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.

Recommended Books

• 
  The Listed Buildings and Other Principal Structures at the Royal Gunpowder Mills Waltham Abbey
• 
  Listed Buildings and Other Heritage Assets
• 
  Suffolk: West: The Buildings of England (Pevsner Architectural Guides) (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  Suffolk: East (Pevsner Architectural Guides: Buildings of England)
• 
  [(Bedfordshire, Huntingdon and Peterborough)] [By (author) Nikolaus Pevsner] published on (January, 1968)
• 
  A Buying and Owning a Listed Building: A Brief Guide