Public Monument and Sculpture Association National Recording Project
CHEADLE HULME WAR MEMORIAL Photograph
Region ID | MR | |
Work ID | 401 | |
Manual Reference | MR/STO12 | |
Type | War Memorial, World War I | |
Title | CHEADLE HULME WAR MEMORIAL | |
Architect | Pite, Arthur Beresford | |
Date of design | 1919-1921 | |
Year of unveiling | 1921 | |
Unveiling details | 29 May 1921 | |
Road | Manor Road and Ravenoak Road | |
Precise Location | ||
A to Z Ref | ||
OS Ref | ||
Postcode | ||
Work is | Extant | |
Listing Status | II | |
Duty of Care | Stockport Metropolitan Borough Council | |
Commissioned by | Cheadle Hulme War Memorial Committee | |
Notes | ||
War memorial in form of a tapering red sandstone column surmounted by a decorated cross. Two small bronze figures of a soldier and sailor are placed on each side of the shaft, below the cross. The shaft stands on a substantial rectangular pedestal of sandstone which itself stands on a smaller one of rough granite. The principal face of the shaft is decorated with the arms of the County Palatine. Inscribed on bronze panels on three sides of the shaft are the names of those who lost their lives in the First World War. The names of the dead of the Second World War are recorded on bronze panels fixed to the sandstone pedestal | ||
Various proposals, including a library and clock tower, were put forward to memorialise those Cheadle Hulme men who had died in the First World War. A public meeting in February 1919 discussed the various schemes and agreed that the memorial should be 'a chaste and simple monument with or without figures.' A committee was formed to consider the design and location of the memorial, and organise the raising of funds. After considering a number of sites, the junction at Manor Road was selected. The memorial was designed by Arthur Beresford Pite, the London architect whose own commercial practice was limited by his duties as Professor of Architecture at the Royal College of Art. It took the form of a stone cross in the tradition of an early English cross though the decoration was more elaborate. It was described as 'ornate, though not profusely so.' The memorial included two bronze figures of a soldier and sailor, the work of the London sculptor, Benjamin Clemens. F. M. and H. Nuttall of Whitefield were responsible for the stonework. The memorial cost some £1,300, a figure which did not include the land which was the gift of the Freehold Society. After some delays, the memorial was erected and unveiled with the usual ceremonies in May 1921. | ||
Village war memorial for First World War | ||
circa | ||
raw year | 1921 | |
Condition | Fair | |
At risk | No known risk | |
Inscriptions | Inscription on front at bottom of shaft: ERECTED BY THE INHABITANTS / OF CHEADLE HULME on base at rear: THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD AS WE THAT / ARE LEFT GROW OLD. AGE SHALL NOT / WEARY THEM NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN, / AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN AND IN / THE MORNING, WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. on bronze band at bottom of sandstone base: TO THE EVER GLORIOUS MEMORY / OF THE MEN AND WOMEN WHO FELL IN THE / WARS 1914- 1918 AND 1939-1945 | |
Signatures | none visible | |
Elements
Element Details
Part of work | Material | Dimensions |
|---|---|---|
Rainhill sandstone, granite | 566 cm high. base 176 cm x 153 cm | |
Bronze figures | ||
Assessment of Condition
Surface Character
Detail | Comment |
|---|---|
Surface spalling, crumbling | |
Vandalism
Vandalism | Comment |
|---|---|
None | |
