War Memorial, Willesden Jewish Cemetery, Willesden Green, London

Summary

War memorial, erected in 1961 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, and designed by Ralph Hobday, the CWGC’s senior architect.

Description

War memorial, erected in 1961 by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. The designer was R Hobday, the CWGC’s senior architect. The memorial stands at the north end of the cemetery, immediately to the south of the lodge, within a grassed area.

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial is of simplified cenotaph type, with a shallow stepped section to the top, and a stepped base. It rests on two steps, with a surrounding stone pavement. On the north face is an engraved Star of David, with the dates of the two world wars above and below. Beneath is the inscription, in both Hebrew and English. The Hebrew inscription reads: ‘In the memory of our valiant and loyal brothers who fell in the fields and for those whose graves are unknown’. The English inscription reads: ‘THIS MEMORIAL / HONOURS THOSE / OF THE JEWISH FAITH / WHO FELL / WHILE SERVING / IN THE FORCES OF / THE COMMONWEALTH / IN TWO WORLD WARS // THEIR NAME LIVETH / FOR EVERMORE’.

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, 25 September 2017.

History

The United Synagogue was established by Act of Parliament in 1870, granting formal recognition to a union of five London Ashkenazi synagogues (the Great, Hambro, and New synagogues, together with the newer Central and Bayswater synagogues), under the guidance of Chief Rabbi Nathan Adler. Three years later, the United Synagogue opened its own cemetery, having purchased twelve acres from All Souls College, Oxford in the then village of Willesden, to the north-west of London. At first, only 5 acres of the plot were used for the cemetery (now known as the Old Cemetery), which then comprised a rectangular walled area approached from Pound Lane to the north-east by a drive, with a lodge by the entrance. To the south of this a group of funerary buildings was constructed, with a central avenue leading southwards, from which a grid of subsidiary paths soon grew, delimiting rectangular grave plots. Described as ‘the most important and prestigious Orthodox Jewish Cemetery in Britain’ (Marks 2014, 153), the United Synagogue Cemetery (more generally known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery) was intended to serve London’s most established Anglo-Jewish communities, prominent within which were families including those who originally purchased the site – the Rothschilds, Montagus, Cohens, and Beddingtons – whose often lavish tombs reflect long associations with the cemetery. The designer of the cemetery, and of its funerary buildings, was Nathan Solomon Joseph (1834-1909), the most prominent of the first generation of Anglo-Jewish synagogue architects; Joseph is buried in the cemetery.

The cemetery soon outgrew its original area and walls were demolished to allow for its expansion. In 1890 the area now known as the Front Lawns was extended northwards to Beaconsfield Road, creating a more spacious approach to the funerary buildings, and in 1906 an additional ten and a half acres of land was purchased from All Souls to extend the burial ground southwards (the Southern Extension). The main entrance was moved to the junction of Beaconsfield Road and Glebe Road in 1909-10; the original lodge was demolished and a new lodge constructed by the entrance in a Queen Anne Revival style. Despite having been part of the original plot, the area known as Pound Lane Field, to the north-east of the site, was not incorporated into the burial ground until 1925-6, and not used for burials until 1943, in which year land on Front Lawns was also pressed into this service. Today, the cemetery can accommodate only a very limited number of new burials.

The Front Lawns, although taken into the cemetery in 1890, were not immediately used for burials. The central approach, leading from the main entrance to the funerary complex, retains its 1910 form, slightly diverted from the original 1872-3 route to accommodate the new entrance. Until the Second World War, the cemetery’s nursery which provided plants for the cemetery, and for mourners to purchase for graves, ran along the western edge of this area, with greenhouses against the western wall. Burials began in this area after the war, first in the western part, moving to the east in the 1970s.

War memorial tablets are located in the Assembly Hall to the north of the Prayer Hall, added in 1929. On the east wall is a Boer War memorial moved here in 1960 from the closed synagogue at Aldershot; this is a replica of the 1905 memorial at the Central Synagogue in Great Portland Street, lost to bombing in the Second World War. On the west wall is a First World War memorial, commemorating members of the United Synagogue and their sons.

There are six First World War graves in a small plot by the Assembly Hall, and 22 of the cemetery’s 78 Second World War burials form a separate plot in Front Lawns to the west of the main avenue; the rest are scattered throughout the cemetery.

In 1961 a war memorial, commemorating the Jewish military dead of both world wars, was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission, to the south-west of the Front Lawns section. Designed by the CWGC’s senior architect, R Hobday, this was the first national Jewish war memorial to be erected in the United Kingdom. The memorial was consecrated by the Chief Rabbi, Dr Israel Brodie, and unveiled by Field Marshal Sir Gerald Templer on 14 May 1961. Today it forms the focus of ceremonies held by the Association of Jewish Ex-Servicement and Women (AJEX) in the summer, when poppy wreaths in the form of Stars of David are laid.

Reasons for Listing

The war memorial at Willesden Jewish Cemetery (United Jewish Cemetery) is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* For its careful and well-executed design, taking the form of a simplified cenotaph, by Ralph Hobday, the Commonwealth War Graves Commission’s senior architect.

Historic interest:
* As an eloquent witness of the sacrifices made by Britain’s Jewish community during the two world wars.

Group value:
* The memorial stands within Willesden Jewish Cemetery, which is registered at Grade II; a number of the tombs are listed at Grade II.

External Links

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