York and Lancaster Regiment War Memorial

Summary

Regimental war memorial. 1923 to designs by Roy Smith, sculptors G N Morewood, Roy Smith and Francis Jahn; cast by Parlanti's bronze foundry. Granite ashlar and bronze figures.

Reasons for Designation

The York and Lancaster Regiment war memorial, Sheffield, of 1923 by Roy Smith, G N Morewood, and Francis Jahn, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as a poignant reminder of the tragic impact of world events, this large-scale memorial commemorates the severe losses of this northern regiment, which included many Pals battalions from specific towns, during in the First World War and subsequent regimental losses during the Second World War
* Architectural interest: as an eye-catching obelisk memorial incorporating bronze figures of contemporary soldiers by G N Morewood and Roy Smith in the manner of the sculptures of the eminent war memorial sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger, who had previously studied at the Sheffield Technical School of Art where they were students at this time, and topped by a bronze allegorical figure by their lecturer, Francis Jahn
* Group value: the war memorial stands within the registered Weston Park, adjacent to the York and Lancaster Regiment Boer war memorial (Grade II), and close to the listed park gateways, Mappin Art Gallery, bandstand, statue to Ebenezer Elliott and memorial to Godfry Sykes all within the park, with the Edgar Allen Building, Firth Hall, Rotunda and Quadrangle to the immediate east

History

The York and Lancaster Regiment was an infantry regiment formed in 1881 through the amalgamation of two regiments of foot and a militia regiment. It saw service in India, Eygpt, Sudan and during the Second Boer War. Eight battalions of the Regiment fought on the first day of the Battle of the Somme during the First World War, including the Sheffield City Battalion, known as the 'Sheffield Pals'. The Sheffield Pals had initially trained at Bramhall Lane football and cricket ground before training at Redmires Camp (scheduled monument), Lodge Moor, above Sheffield. The Somme offensive began on the 1st July 1916 and by the evening of 3rd July the Sheffield Pals are recorded as sustaining 513 officers and men killed, wounded or missing, with an additional 75 wounded. During the course of the First World War the Regiment as a whole suffered 48,650 casualties out of 57,000 men serving, with 8814 killed. The Regiment won four Victoria Crosses and 59 battle honours, the largest number for any English regiment during the war.

After the end of the war the York and Lancaster Memorial Committee raised £12,000 through public subscription, press appeals, and collecting boxes in shops and schools. The Committee approached the Sheffield Technical School of Art to design the memorial. The monument was a collaborative effect. The allegorical figure of Victory was designed by Francis Jahn, a lecturer at the School who taught modelling. The two life-like bronze figures depicting an officer and a private soldier were by students Roy Smith and G N Morewood, with all the figures modelled by the students. The memorial itself was designed by Roy Smith. When listed in 1973 the war memorial was attributed to Charles Sargeant Jagger. Jagger who has become renowned for his war memorials, notably the Royal Artillery Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London (Grade I), had studied at the Sheffield Technical School of Art before winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, Kensington, in 1907. However, there is no documentary evidence that he was involved and it is not recognised amongst his commissioned war memorials (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). The bronzes were cast by the well-regarded Parlanti bronze foundry in 1923. The unveiling ceremony took place on 7th July 1923, undertaken by Field Marshall Plumer.

An inscription was later added commemorating the 1,222 regimental soldiers who lost their lives in the Second World War.

Details

Regimental war memorial. 1923 to designs by Roy Smith, sculptors G N Morewood, Roy Smith and Francis Jahn; cast by Parlanti's bronze foundry. Granite ashlar and bronze figures.

PLAN: an obelisk topped by a winged Victory figure and standing on an inscribed pedestal set on a four-lobed base. The east and west lobes have life-size standing figures of an officer and a private soldier on square plinths. The north and south lobes have piled trophies. The four-lobed base stands on a rectangular, stepped plinth with square pedestals with pyramidal caps to each corner.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial stands at the south end of Weston Park; the York and Lancaster Regiment's 1903 Boer War memorial (Grade II) stands adjacent on its east side. At the centre of the memorial is a tall, tapering obelisk with a blocky entablature band on which stands a bronze allegorical figure representing Victory. The winged female figure draped in a flowing robe holds a laurel wreath in her outstretched right hand and a palm frond in her left hand. At the base of the obelisk the north face has a relief carving of the Regimental badge of a tiger and union rose of Lancashire and Yorkshire, and the south face has a relief carving of a garter with the regimental motto Honi Soit Qui Mal Y Pense (Shame on Him Who Thinks Evil of It) encompassing the lion and crown crest of the Royal Coat of Arms of the United Kingdom. The obelisk stands on a deep, square pedestal. The north face is inscribed 'TO THE EVERLASTING HONOUR / AND GLORY OF THE 8814 OFFICERS / NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND / MEN OF THE YORK AND LANCASTER / REGIMENT WHO FELL IN THE GREAT / WAR 1914-1919'. On the north and south sides of the pedestal are stepped lobes. The upper lobes are surmounted by relief carvings of regimental regalia of items of uniform, weapons, ammunition, flags, drum and trumpet. The lower lobe on the north side is inscribed 'ALSO OF / 1222 / MEMBERS OF THE REGIMENT / WHO FELL IN THE WAR / 1939-1945'. The lobes on the east and west sides stand on the platform formed by the rectangular, stepped plinth. Standing on square plinths on these lobes are two life-size bronze figures. The west figure depicts a private soldier in contemporary battle uniform with a Lee-Enfield rifle slung over his right shoulder and carrying kit including his tin helmet on his back. The front of the base of the statue is inscribed G N MOREWOOD. The side is inscribed E J PARLANTI FOUNDER, LONDON. The east figure depicts an officer, also dressed in contemporary battle uniform, wearing his tin helmet and carrying a pistol in his right hand. The front of the base of the statue is inscribed ROY SMITH, and the side is inscribed E J PARLANTI FOUNDER, LONDON. At each corner of the large, rectangular plinth is a low, square pedestal with a shallow, pyramidal cap. The pedestals flank four steps on all sides.


This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 31 January 2017.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:

457341

Legacy System:

LBS

Sources

Websites
Public Art in Sheffield; public art research archive, accessed from http://public-artshu.ac.uk/sheffield/
War Memorials Register, accessed 31 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/27515
War Memorials Online, accessed 31 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/96695

End of official list entry

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