Westhoughton War Memorial including steps and rear wall.

Summary

First World War memorial, 1923, with additions for later conflicts.

Reasons for Designation

Westhoughton War Memorial including steps and rear wall, situated at the junction of Church Street and Market Street, Westhoughton, 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 tall and elegant memorial cross;
* Group value: with 110 and 112 Market Street, the Tower of the Church of St Bartholomew, and Westhoughton Church of England Primary School, all Grade II-listed.

History

Westhoughton War Memorial was unveiled on 3 August 1923 by Colonel Crossfield, costing £1,800 which was raised by public subscription. The memorial commemorated 197 local servicemen who died in the First World War. Following the Second World War the memorial was altered to commemorate the 90 fallen of that conflict, including the re-working of the rear wall, and re-dedicated on 7 November 1948. This unveiling was performed by Lieutenant Colonel R W Greenhalgh.

In 2011 Westhoughton Town Council funded the addition of a dedication to a soldier who died in Afghanistan. To commemorate the centenary of the start of the First World War, the memorial was cleaned and the inscriptions re-leaded in 2014 (funded by the Town Council with War Memorials Trust). Handrails were installed at this time.

The memorial stands at the junction of Church Street and Market Street, in front of 110 and 112 Market Street (Grade II). This building, c 1860, is recorded as having been the Sunny Bank House Memorial Clinic, a child welfare centre and school clinic established at a cost of £900 after the First World War.

Details

The stone memorial, 5.1m tall, comprises a cross fleury with a moulded foot, rising from a tapering octagonal shaft. That stands on an octagonal plinth, set on a three-stepped base. Halfway down the cross shaft is carved THEIR NAME/ LIVETH/ FOR/ EVERMORE. The memorial stands on a raised, paved area approached up a flight of four steps from the pavement.

The front face of the plinth records the inscription IN THANKFUL REMEMBRANCE/ AND IN GRATITUDE/ TO THE MEN OF/ WESTHOUGHTON/ WHO FELL/ DURING THE GREAT WAR/ 1914-1918./ THEY SHALL GROW NOT OLD,/ AS WE THAT ARE LEFT GROW OLD,/ AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM,/ NOR THE YEARS CONDEMN./ AT THE GOING DOWN OF THE SUN/ AND IN THE MORNING/ WE WILL REMEMBER THEM. The names of the First World War fallen are recorded on the remaining faces of the plinth.

Originally in a square enclosure, the memorial is now enclosed by a curved rear wall in stone, encompassing a central block and terminating in low returning walls. The rear wall is pierced by small apertures and capped with a moulded course that flows from the string course of the central block. This block is inscribed WE WILL REMEMBER THEM with an inset tablet below inscribed TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEN OF WESTHOUGHTON/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR FOR FREEDOM/ (NAMES). The tablet is flanked by a carved floral pattern with, to the left, 1939, and to the right, 1945. To the right of the block, on the rear wall, a more recent dedication to a soldier killed in action is recorded beneath the inscription AFGHANISTAN.

The memorial stands in front of 110 and 112 Market Street (Grade II) and is opposite the Grade II-listed tower of the Church of St Bartholomew, on Church Street. On the other side of Market Street an area has been turned into a small memorial garden commemorating the Pretoria Pit disaster of 21 December 1910.

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, 30 January 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 15/01/2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/43845
War Memorials Register, accessed 15/01/2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/550
War Memorials Online, accessed 30 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/146630

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