Ball Haye Green War Memorial, Leek, Staffordshire

Summary

A First World War memorial dating to 1922, designed by Mr W E Beacham and built by Thomas Grace and Sons of Leek, with plaques supplied by Messers Baxendale of Manchester.

Description

A First World War memorial dating to 1922, designed by Mr W E Beacham and built by Thomas Grace and Sons of Leek, with plaques supplied by Messers Baxendale of Manchester.

PLAN: rectangular gate piers with narrower flanking walls, orientated north-east / south-west aligned with the road.

MATERIALS: Alderley Edge sandstone in ashlar to the arch, wall coping and quoins, vermiculated sandstone to the blocks in the walls. Bronze plaques.

EXTERIOR: the gate faces south-east to Ball Haye Green. It has two square columned gateposts with deep plinth bases. These support a segmental arch with an embossed keystone over which is a frieze bearing the inscription ‘PRO PATRIA’. The arch encloses a replacement iron gate and is flanked by short scroll-topped stone walls. The columns have a carved wreath below their stepped tops, the wreath on the southern contains the date ‘1914’, the northern wreath the date ‘1919’. Below the wreaths are bronze plaques each with a Tudor Rose embossed at the top. On the plaques below the roses are the inscriptions containing the names of individuals. The names are arranged alphabetically by surname with initials, and grouped into those who lost their lives, and those who served and returned. The inscription on the south column reads:

‘TO THE MEMORY OF THE / FOLLOWING RESIDENTS OF / BALL HAYE GREEN / WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES / IN THE EUROPEAN WAR (26 names in two columns) / THEIR NAME LIVETH EVERMORE / AND/ IN HONOUR OF THOSE RESIDENTS / WHO SERVED THEIR COUNTRY (39 OF 167 names in three columns)’
To the north column, the word ‘SERVED’ is inscribed at the top, the remainder of the 167 names are in three columns below.

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 England. 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; therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Ball Haye Green in Leek as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the 26 members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War and by the 167 who served and returned.

The memorial is located the west side of Ball Haye Green Road, just before it becomes Haregate Road. The monument takes the form of a recreation ground with a stone entrance gate inscribed with the names of the fallen and those who served and returned. The cost of purchasing, preparing and fencing the land, as well as the construction of the stone gateway came to just under £1000, with this sum being raised by public subscription and a series of fundraising events.

The gateway was designed by the town surveyor, Mr W E Beacham and built by the local builders Thomas Grace and Sons. The bronze tablets for the inscriptions were supplied by Messers Baxendale of Manchester. The memorial was unveiled on 5 November 1922 by Lieutenant Colonel Challinor, and the dedication was made by the vicar of St Luke’s Church, Rev J A Howell.

Reasons for Listing

Ball Haye Green War Memorial, Leek, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:

* it has been designed for its purpose as a sombre, dignified memorial and displays architectural interest through its proportions and decorative mouldings.

Historic interest:

* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and to the sacrifices made in the First World War.

External Links

Historic England Listing

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