Gatepiers, overthrows and railings at south-west and south entrances to Ashton-under-Lyne Memorial Gardens
Crickets Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, OL6 6LL
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1439973
- Date first listed:
- 16-Dec-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Gatepiers, overthrows and railings at south-west and south entrances to Ashton-under-Lyne Memorial Gardens
- Statutory Address:
- Crickets Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, OL6 6LL
Location
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Discover moreOfficial list entry
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II
- List Entry Number:
- 1439973
- Date first listed:
- 16-Dec-2016
- List Entry Name:
- Gatepiers, overthrows and railings at south-west and south entrances to Ashton-under-Lyne Memorial Gardens
- Statutory Address 1:
- Crickets Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, OL6 6LL
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Crickets Lane, Ashton-under-Lyne, Tameside, Greater Manchester, OL6 6LL
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Tameside (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ9423099093
Summary
Gatepiers, railings and overthrows. Erected 1922 by the Borough of Ashton-under-Lyne.
Reasons for Designation
The gatepiers, railings and overthrows at the south-west and south entrances to Ashton-under-Lyne Memorial Gardens are listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent testament to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: two impressive sets of stone gatepiers with elaborate wrought ironwork, which announce the gardens as a place of remembrance for the community;
* Group value: they are intrinsic to the setting of Ashton-under-Lyne War Memorial, framing the views of the Grade II*-listed monument from the street.
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. Many communities erected their war memorials within existing or newly created public parks and gardens.
Prior to the outbreak of war in 1914, a public garden had been planned by Ashton-under-Lyne Borough Council on a triangular island site to the east of the parish church. The gardens were laid out in 1922 to the design of the Borough Surveyor, John Rowbottom, with the memorial commemorating Ashton’s 1,520 war dead as its focal point. The war memorial, designed by the Ashton architect Percy Howard with sculptures by John Ashton Floyd, was unveiled on 16 September 1922.
Details
The entrance at the south-western corner of the gardens is set on a radial axis with the war memorial. It comprises a central pair of Portland stone gatepiers, wrought-iron railings and terminal stone piers, arranged on a segmental concave curve. The square gatepiers have heavy moulded cornices and are surmounted by flaming urns symbolising eternal life. The wrought-iron openwork piers that carried the gates (now removed) bear the dates 1914 and 1919 and are capped by similar urn motifs. The elaborate scrolled overthrow is crowned by an escutcheon bearing the Borough arms and has inset lettering reading: MEMORIAL GARDENS. The geometric-pattern railings comprise four panels divided by openwork piers capped with urns; the innermost panels abutting the gatepiers with curved heads.
The southern entrance, on a central axis with the memorial, comprises a pair of gatepiers and an overthrow identical to those at the south-west entrance. The gates have been removed.
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-Jun-2026 at 15:02:25.
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