Allenton War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, dedicated in 1919, with Second World War additions. It was re-sited in 1929 and again in 1989. It was sculpted by W Gadsby and Company of Derby.

Reasons for Designation

Allenton war memorial, dedicated in 1919, with Second World War additions, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

* Historic interest: it is a poignant reminder of the impact of tragic world events upon an individual community and, thus, has strong cultural and historical significance within both a local and national context;

* Architectural interest: as a well-executed memorial with an expressive and finely-detailed sculpture of a First World War soldier.

History

The aftermath of the First World War saw the biggest single wave of public commemoration ever with tens of thousands of memorials erected across the country. One such memorial was unveiled on 18th October 1919 in the Derbyshire village of Allenton (formerly known as Allentown) to commemorate the 27 local men who died during the conflict along with the 95 men who enlisted and returned. It was erected at a cost of around £220, which was raised by public subscription, and was manufactured by W Gadsby and Company, sculptors, of Nottingham Road, Derby. The memorial was originally placed within a recess on the Chellaston Road, the main road from Allenton to Derby. In 1928 it was dismantled to make way for a road widening scheme, being re-erected the following year on the east side of Chellaston Road, on a site between Allen Street and Greatorex Avenue. It was moved again in 1989 to the north side of Sinfin Avenue, within the Allenton War Memorial Village, a model village built after the Second World War for injured and disabled ex-servicemen. In 2014 the memorial underwent a programme of repair and conservation work, including the reinstatement of the end of the rifle which was reported as being knocked off in 1932 by children throwing stones.

Details

First World War memorial, dedicated in 1919, with Second World War additions. It was re-sited in 1929 and again in 1989. It was sculpted by W Gadsby and Company of Derby.

MATERIALS: of Hopton Wood limestone.

PLAN: it is square on plan.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial, which faces north-west, takes the form of a life-size statue of a soldier in First World War uniform standing 'at ease' with a rifle at his right-hand side and a rock at the rear. It stands upon the capstone of a tall pedestal which in turn stands on a moulded plinth. Below is a single-stepped base. The capstone is moulded, with an undercut dentilled cornice, while the pedestal is divided by an astragal, with the smaller upper sections containing inscriptions set between foliated relief carvings. Below are raised inscription panels with pointed heads. The inscription on the north-west face (front) reads: 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO MADE THE SUPREME / SACRIFICE IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1918 ', with the names of the men who died being inscribed on the raised panel below. The south-west face is inscribed: 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO ENLISTED IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1914 while the inscription on the north-east face reads 'IN IMPERISHABLE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF ALLENTOWN / WHO ENLISTED IN THE / GREAT WAR / 1915'. The names of the men who enlisted and returned are inscribed on the raised panels beneath, with those on the north-east side extending onto the plinth. The upper section of the raised panel on the south-east face (rear), which was probably added in 1989, is inscribed : 'THIS MEMORIAL / ALSO COMMEMORATES / THE SACRIFICE / OF MEN AND WOMEN / WHO DIED IN THE 1939-45 WAR / AND SUBSEQUENT CONFLICTS', while the inscription to the lower section reads: 'THIS MEMORIAL WAS RE-SITED / AND REDEDICATED / BY THE VICAR OF / ST EDMUNDS CHURCH / ALLENTON / ON 29TH OCTOBER 1989'.

The memorial stands at the south-east side of a paved area which is enclosed by a low brick wall. Standing against the south-east side of the wall are two further memorials in the form of headstones; one to the Royal British Legion and one commemorating the planting of a neighbouring tree in 1985 by the Derby and District Far East Prisoners of War Association in memory of the many who died or suffered as a result of their experiences in the Japanese prisoner of war camps between 1942 and 1945. All these features are excluded from the listing.

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, 25 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 22 October 2015 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/19054
Information on the repair of Allenton War Memorial from the War Memorials Trust, accessed 22 October 2015 from http://www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=1116
War Memorials Online, accessed 25 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/189134

Other
Derby Daily Telegraph, 21 October 1919, p2
Derby Daily Telegraph, 27 August 1932, p5

End of official list entry

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