Memorial to Edmund Leonard George Betts, St John's Cemetery
MEMORIAL TO EDMUND LEONARD GEORGE BETTS, ST JOHN'S CEMETERY, MANSTON ROAD
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1396419
- Date first listed:
- 24-Jan-2011
- List Entry Name:
- Memorial to Edmund Leonard George Betts, St John's Cemetery
- Statutory Address:
- MEMORIAL TO EDMUND LEONARD GEORGE BETTS, ST JOHN'S CEMETERY, MANSTON ROAD
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1396419
- Date first listed:
- 24-Jan-2011
- List Entry Name:
- Memorial to Edmund Leonard George Betts, St John's Cemetery
- Statutory Address 1:
- MEMORIAL TO EDMUND LEONARD GEORGE BETTS, ST JOHN'S CEMETERY, MANSTON ROAD
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
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.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- MEMORIAL TO EDMUND LEONARD GEORGE BETTS, ST JOHN'S CEMETERY, MANSTON ROAD
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- County:
- Kent
- District:
- Thanet (District Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- TR 35116 69138
Reasons for Designation
Yes list at Grade II.
Details
878/0/10106 MANSTON ROAD 24-JAN-11 Memorial to Edmund Leonard George Bett s, St John's Cemetery
II Headstone, 1938, pink granite, white marble.
DESCRIPTION: The memorial takes the form of a square-headed headstone of pink rough-hewn granite. A scroll carved into the front face provides a smooth surface which bears the inscription in white letters. Resting on top of the headstone is a white marble sculpture of an airplane with the registration letters G-AEFU carved into its body. The propellers and right hand wing and wheel of the plane have broken off and are missing. The burial plot is surrounded by a kerb of pink granite.
HISTORY: Edmund Leonard George Betts, "Elgy", was killed whilst flying a Miles Hawk Trainer airplane belonging to the Thanet Aero Club. Having taken off from Ramsgate Airport on 17 July 1938, the plane crashed into the sea off Cliftonville. Both the 19 year-old Edmund and his passenger, 16 year-old Marjorie Walk, were killed. Marjorie's body was eventually recovered off Deal; her grave is elsewhere in the cemetery with her parents'. The sculpture of the airplane on Edmund Betts' headstone is an accurate representation of the plane in which he died, including its registration letters.
Aviation was in its infancy during the First World War, but by the Second World War it played a major part in Allied success. It was during the interwar period that aeronautical technology saw many great advances. The mono-winged Spitfire and Hurricane fighter planes, developed in the 1930s, have since become iconic symbols of the Second World War.
SOURCES: St John's Cemetery Margate 1856-2006, 150th Anniversary Commemoration (2006) booklet produced by The Friends of Margate Cemetery
REASONS FOR DESIGNATION: The memorial to Edmund Betts, St John's Cemetery, Margate, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons: * Sculptural interest: the sculpture of the airplane is unusual in that it both pays tribute to Edmund Betts' love of flying, as well as being an accurate representation of the plane in which he died. * Historic interest: the memorial is an unusual and vivid reminder of an important period in the history of aviation, before it revolutionised modern warfare and international travel.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 508942
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 10-Jun-2026 at 22:59:20.
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