Gosforth War Memorial Pillar

Summary

First World War memorial, 1925, with later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Gosforth War Memorial Pillar, which stands in Gosforth Central Park, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: a striking memorial pillar in the Classical style.

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 England, both as a result of the huge impact the loss of three quarters of a million British lives had on communities and the official policy of not repatriating the dead, which meant that the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss.

Gosforth War Memorial Pillar was erected in front of the new Gosforth Memorial Welfare Centre (not listed) on Church Road. These two First World War memorials formed the local community’s monument to the local servicemen who died in the First World War. The Welfare Centre was opened by Mrs CA Cochrane on 28 January 1925, whilst the pillar was unveiled as part of the ceremony by the Duke of Northumberland.

The memorial pillar cost £152, raised as part of the general War Memorial Fund in a campaign led by the Gosforth War Memorial Committee. The pillar commemorates 274 local servicemen who died in the First World War: their names are recorded on brass plaques inside the Welfare Centre. A later dedication to commemorate the town’s Second World War losses was unveiled in 1949. The memorial was moved from its original location and now stands in the centre of Gosforth Central Park on the site of the old bandstand. Raised here on a three-stepped brick base, the local authority has recently replaced these steps with stone.

Details

The memorial stands in the middle of Gosforth Central Park. Approximately 4m tall and built of red Carlisle sandstone, it takes the form of a broad octagonal pillar with a moulded capstone. The pillar stands on a large plinth, square on plan. The plinth is raised on a stepped base*. The whole is enclosed by metal railings*.

The principal dedicatory inscription, recorded on a bronze plaque fixed to the front face of the plinth, reads THIS COLUMN AND ADJACENT BUILDING/ WERE ERECTED BY PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ TO THE MEMORY OF THE MEN OF GOSFORTH/ WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 – 1918/ THEIR NAMES ARE INSCRIBED ON A TABLET/ IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE BUILDING.

The later bronze plaque fixed to the rear of the plinth reads THE HALL TO THE WEST OF THIS STONE/ ERECTED WITH PUBLIC SUBSCRIPTION/ WAS DEDICATED ON REMEMBRANCE DAY/ THE 6TH NOVEMBER 1949/ AS A MEMORIAL/ TO THOSE WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES/ WHILST SERVING IN H.M. FORCES/ AND THE MERCHANT NAVY/ IN THE 1939-1945 WAR.

*Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 ('the Act') it is declared that these aforementioned features are not of special architectural or historic interest.

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, 8 February 2017.

Sources

Websites
North East War Memorials Project, accessed 28/06/2016 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=7384
War Memorials Register, accessed 8 February 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/34422
War Memorials Online, accessed 8 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/89984

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