Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project

BURY WAR MEMORIAL

Region ID

MR

Work ID

130

Manual Reference

MR/BUR30

Type

Building

Title

BURY WAR MEMORIAL

Sculptor

Cawthra, Joseph H.

Date of design

Year of unveiling

1924

Unveiling details

Road

Precise Location

A to Z Ref

OS Ref

Postcode

Work is

Extant

Listing Status

II

Duty of Care

Bury Metropolitan Borough Council

Commissioned by

Bury War Memorial Committee

Notes

War memorial; a tall stone cross rising from octagonal base, flanked by a curving wall on which are two rectangular bronze panels. The panels have compositions comprising a procession of military and civilian figures. On the lhs the panel is of military figures in which members of the three armed forces, and also a female nurse can be identified. In the centre soldiers carry a stretcher on which is a soldier. The panel on the rhs depicts the Home Front with different civilian occupations represented including coalmining, engineering, carpentry and munitions.

Public discussions to erect a war memorial in Bury began at the end of the war. The discussions to commission Bury's main war memorial began shortly after the end of the war. The question of site raised problems but was finally settled by deciding to place the memorial on the corner of the Market Place, on land which was part of the parish church of St Mary's. St Mary's had a long connection with the Fusiliers and contained many memorials associated with the regiment. Hermon Cawthra was responsible for the bronze panels. Cawthra produced a number of war memorials including Bootle, Lancashire. The memorial was unveiled by the Earl of Derby in 1924.

circa

raw year

1924

Condition

Fair

At risk

No known risk

Inscriptions

Inscription on octagonal pedestal beneath cross: TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF BURY WHO GAVE THEIR / LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 / 1918

Signatures

Bronze panels signed H. Cawthra R.S.S. Scul.

Elements

Element Details

Part of work

Material

Dimensions

stone; bronze panels

cross: 1036 cm high [34 feet high] bronze panels: 332 cm x 70 cm

Assessment of Condition

Surface Character

Detail

Comment

No damage

Structural Condition: nothing recorded

Vandalism

Vandalism

Comment

None