Goole Cenotaph

Summary

First World War memorial by Mr HO Tasker, 1922, with additions to commemorate later conflicts.

Reasons for Designation

Goole Cenotaph, situated in Bartholomew Gardens, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic Interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20 and C21;
* Architectural interest: a dignified monument, closely modelled on Sir Edwin Lutyens’ cenotaph at Whitehall, London (Grade I-listed).

History

Goole Cenotaph was designed by Mr HO Tasker, a local monumental mason, who modelled it on Sir Edwin Lutyens’ cenotaph at Whitehall, London (Grade I-listed). Goole War Memorial Committee raised some £3,000 by public subscription, paying £1,300 for the cenotaph. The land on which it stands was given by the Directors of the Aire and Calder Navigation, and a further £1,200 was used to purchase enough additional land around the monument to make a memorial garden.

At a very well attended ceremony on 19 January 1922 the cenotaph was unveiled by Major General HR Davies CB, commemorating the 452 men and women from the town who died serving during the First World War. Inscriptions and plaques were added after the Second World War in memory of those who fell in that conflict. A plaque was subsequently added in memory of a soldier who fell in the Iraq War.

Details

The cenotaph stands in a memorial garden, developed shortly after the memorial was unveiled in 1922. Like the Whitehall Cenotaph on which it is modelled it is built of Portland stone. Standing 5.5m high and rectangular in plan, at the top is a plain chest tomb. That stands on a three-staged base, which in turn stands on a tall shaft, set back towards its upper section. Beneath is the two-stage base, standing on three shallow steps.

On the front face of the memorial the dates for the World Wars are inscribed 1914 1919/ 1939 1945 with OUR/ GLORIOUS/ DEAD below. On either end, at the upper section of the shaft, are carved laurel wreaths. Unlike the Whitehall Cenotaph, however, bronze plaques fixed to the memorial record the commemorated names. These include plaques on each face of the base; one large rectangular plaque on the rear of the shaft inscribed PRO PATRIA/ (NAMES); one rectangular plaque to one side of the shaft inscribed HONOR/ (NAMES); and one rectangular plaque to the opposite side of the shaft inscribed LIBERTAS/ (NAMES).

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 1 February 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 22/05/2015 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/34644
War Memorials Online, accessed 1 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/161512

Other
"Goole Mail Mems", Hull Daily Mail, 19 January 1922, p5
"Goole War Memorial", Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer, 20 January 1922, p10

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