Summary
War memorial and perimeter walls and loggia of Garden of Remembrance. 1927 and c1945. Sandstone, orange brick, slate.
Reasons for Designation
The war memorial, perimeter walls and loggia of the Middleton Garden of Remembrance of 1927 and c1945 are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic Interest: as a poignant reminder of the tragic impact of world events upon an individual community, commemorating the men from the Borough of Middleton who lost their lives fighting in the First and Second World Wars;
* Architectural Interest: as a formal Garden of Remembrance with well-designed and detailed perimeter walls and loggia of warm orange brick with stone dressings complimenting the tall war memorial of fine ashlar stone;
* Design: as a sensitively designed ensemble which successfully creates an attractive and contemplative space; an oasis of calm in which the local population could reflect upon the sacrifice of those who fought for the country's liberty.
History
In 1927 part of the grounds of Park Field House, a C19 villa on the north side of Manchester Old Road, was formally presented to the Borough of Middleton. The land was used to lay out a Garden of Remembrance to commemorate the 647 men from Middleton who had lost their lives serving during the First World War. The rectangular Garden is believed to have been designed by the Borough Surveyor of Middleton. It was laid out with formal paths, high boundary walls and an open loggia to the rear flanking the war memorial. The memorial was unveiled in October 1927 by Lt Col R L Lees with a dedication by Richard Godfrey Parsons, then suffragan bishop of Middleton. After the Second World War the names of a further 286 local men who had lost their lives were added to low curved walls on both sides of the original cenotaph.
The decorative iron gates to the main entrance were presented in 1949.
In 2000 renovation work was undertaken to reinstate a dolphin fountain on the south side of the memorial which had been lost over thirty years previously. At an unknown date a memorial commemorating Holocaust Memorial Day was set on the left-hand side of the Garden.
Details
War memorial and perimeter walls and loggia of Garden of Remembrance. 1927 and c1945. Sandstone, orange brick, slate.
PLAN: a rectangular garden with a brick wall forming the south and west perimeters, a U-shaped loggia forming the northern perimeter and wrapping round to terminate in east and west pavilions (a modern metal fence forming the east perimeter). The enclosed area is grassed with geometric flowerbeds and formal, symmetrical walkways. An axial path leads from the main, south entrance to the war memorial set towards the rear and flanked by the loggia.
DESCRIPTION: the south and west boundary walls are brick in Flemish bond with sandstone plinths and copings. The south wall faces onto the road and has moulded coping, while the west wall coping is square-cut. In the centre of the south wall is a grand entrance gateway. Two small, rectangular pavilions flank the gateway. Both have pyramidal, slate roofs and blocked window openings in their external south walls, which are built as a continuation of the boundary wall. The wall containing the gateway is set back against the inner north corners of the pavilions. The two square, brick gate piers have moulded stone caps surmounted by swagged urns. Four shallow stone steps rise to the iron double gates, which are decorated with poppy symbols, picked out in red paint. On the east elevation of the left-hand pavilion is a T-shaped granite plaque with an enamelled coat of arms, a cast-metal ribbon with the motto FORTIS IN ARDUIS and in metal lettering beneath THE GARDEN OF REMEMBRANCE. The west wall is ramped in the south-west corner and where it adjoins the left-hand wing of the loggia. The U-shaped loggia is raised slightly above the ground level with shallow stone flag steps and is open into the garden with square brick piers on sandstone plinths and blind brick external walls supporting double-pitched, slate roofs. Within the loggia the roof is ceiled and plastered with squared timber framing. Closing the loggia are two identical pavilions with gabled walls facing the war memorial. The inner gabled faces contain wide round-headed openings, originally with gates, flanked by slightly-projecting corner piers with angled capitals of narrow bricks supporting the gable. The gables are rendered with timber bargeboards and an enamelled coat of arms and motto. The south-facing side elevations both have a large oval window opening (believed to have originally been glazed). In the north corner of the east rear wall is a round-headed doorway with an original geometrical iron gate.
The war memorial stands on the northern side of a circular path which is linked to the main gateway by an axial pathway. The memorial is a tall, slightly tapering octagonal sandstone column topped by a cross and set on a deep octagonal plinth with a square base. The octagonal plinth is inscribed 1914-1918 and 1939-1945 below. Four inverted consoles support the column. Set on the square base is a small inscribed chamfered granite plaque TO ALL THOSE / WHO DIED IN THE SERVICE / OF / THEIR COUNTRY. Attached to both sides of the octagonal plinth is a low wall which follows the curve of the circular path, with a break to accommodate stone steps which rise to diagonal paths linking with a pathway round the edge of the loggia. The curved walls then return as straight walls with ramped outer edges which line up with the south, side elevations of the loggia pavilions. On both sides a flight of stone steps rise between the wall and the pavilion, also linking with the pathway around the edge of the loggia. The sandstone memorial wall has a plinth and moulded coping. The curved part has a grey granite frieze with metal lettering HERE IN THIS GARDEN OF PEACE WE / GRATEFULLY REMEMBER THOSE / WHO BY THEIR GREAT SACRIFICES / MADE POSSIBLE THIS FREEDOM. Beneath the frieze are inset grey granite panels with the names of the fallen from the First World War picked out in metal lettering. The two straight walls both have an inset grey granite panel with the date 1939-1945. Beneath are similar inset grey granite panels with the names of the fallen from the Second World War. Set inside the circular path is a fountain. A stone sculpture of a dolphin (modern replacement) is set within a semi-circular pond, now planted as a flowerbed, with deep stone edging and a low stone wall to the rear which is similarly detailed to the memorial wall.
The metal fence forming the east perimeter is not of special interest and is excluded from the listing.
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, 30 January 2017.
