WAR MEMORIAL

WAR MEMORIAL, EUSTON SQUARE

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

War Memorial, 1921. Designed by Reginald Wynn Owen (1876-1950), architect to the London & North Western Railway Company (LNWR). Bronze figures modelled by Ambrose Neale, chief artist of R L Boulton & Sons of Cheltenham, contractors for the memorial. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1342044
Date first listed:: 11-Jan-1999
List Entry Name:: WAR MEMORIAL
Statutory Address:: WAR MEMORIAL, EUSTON SQUARE

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Date:: 2004-07-28
Reference:: IOE01/12053/35
Rights:: © Miss Patricia Philpott. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1342044
Date first listed:: 11-Jan-1999
Date of most recent amendment:: 23-Apr-2015
List Entry Name:: WAR MEMORIAL
Statutory Address 1:: WAR MEMORIAL, EUSTON SQUARE

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: WAR MEMORIAL, EUSTON SQUARE

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

County:: Greater London Authority
District:: Camden (London Borough)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: TQ2964182578

Summary

Reasons for Designation

The LNWR/LMSR War Memorial, Euston Square, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Architectural interest: an imposing composition whose group of four over life-size bronze figures, executed R L Boulton & Sons, a notable firm of architectural masons and sculptors, is of considerable quality. It is relatively uncommon in depicting an airman; only a small number of First World War memorials do so with such prominence; * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events upon, and the sacrifices made by, the workforce of the LNWR, one of Britain’s principal railway companies; * Group value: with the Grade II-listed station lodges of 1870, which frame the views of the memorial from Euston Road.

History

The memorial was paid for mainly by the subscriptions of LNWR staff, to commemorate the 3,719 LNWR employees who fell in the First World War. It was unveiled by Field Marshal Earl Haig on 21 October 1921 and dedicated by the Archbishop of Canterbury. It stood at the centre of Euston Square, on the approach road to old Euston Station, on the same axis as the Euston Arch (demolished 1962).

Details

The memorial consists of a tall (13m high) obelisk of Portland stone on a tall pedestal, on a grey granite circular stepped base. The top of the obelisk is carved with four crosses in relief with bronze wreaths encircling their feet. The obelisk has a moulded base with a reeded band. Stepped buttresses at each angle of the pedestal support four over life-sized bronze statues representing the Navy, the Infantry, the Artillery and the Air Force, resting on reversed arms, with heads bowed. The front (south) face of the obelisk is inscribed IN/ MEMORY/ OF OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD.

A granite panel on the front face of the pedestal is inscribed IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF 3719 MEN OF THE/ LONDON AND NORTH-WESTERN RAILWAY COMPANY/ WHO FOR THEIR COUNTRY, JUSTICE AND FREEDOM/ SERVED AND DIED IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1919/ THIS MONUMENT WAS RAISED BY THEIR/ COMRADES AND THE COMPANY AS A/ LASTING MEMORIAL TO THEIR DEVOTION. Stone inscription panels on the east and west sides commemorate employees of the London Midland and Scottish Railway Company (into which the LNWR was absorbed in 1921) who died in the Second World War REMEMBER/ THE MEN AND WOMEN OF THE/ LONDON MIDLAND AND SCOTTISH/ 1939 RAILWAY 1945.

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, 9 February 2017.

Legacy

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

Legacy System number:: 477264
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
'L & N W Railway Memorial' in The Builder, , Vol. 119, (6 August 1920), 146
'War Memorial at Euston' in The Architects' Journal, , Vol. 52, (22 September 1920), 331
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 9 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/189602
War Memorials Register, accessed 9 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/2087

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.