Lancashire Fusiliers Boer War Memorial

Summary

Boer War Memorial of 1905, relocated in 1920, by Sir George James Frampton, comprising a sandstone plinth with bronze inscriptions and a realistically-depicted statue of a soldier in ‘review order’ uniform, in a pose of dignified triumph holding aloft his busby in his right hand and with his left heel slightly raised.

Reasons for Designation

The Lancashire Fusiliers Boer War Memorial in Bury’s Whitehead Gardens, a war memorial of 1905, relocated in 1920, by Sir George James Frampton, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of these late-C19 conflicts on the local community and on the surviving comrades of the Fallen;
* Artistic quality: for its distinctively-posed and well-executed statue and highly artistic inscriptions;
* Association: designed by an eminent artist and sculptor, credited with numerous listed works.

History

At a meeting in 1902 of the Lancashire Fusiliers Compassionate Fund, a memorial for Bury (the regimental headquarters) was suggested by Colonel Sir Lees Knowles to commemorate those lost in the Second Boer War (1899-1902). A statue was proposed of a Fusilier in review order, "cheering for the King; sorrowful but proud at the loss of comrades [and] urging on those who survive to further deeds of heroism". The soldier is depicted wearing the regiment’s home uniform, rather than the one worn in South Africa, allowing the full regimental honours to be displayed. The sitter was Walter Dyer, who was born in Alcester, Warwickshire, in 1873, and went on to become a Colour Sergeant in the Lancashire Fusiliers based at Wellington Barracks in Bury. He was painted in watercolours by Colin Tucker of Aldershot, as well as being sculpted and cast in bronze by Sir George James Frampton.

The Second Battalion of the Lancashire Fusiliers formed part of the force involved in the notorious Battle of Spion Kop in 1900. As a result, the Fusiliers were conferred with a triple honour by King Edward VII (who unveiled an identical statue in Salford, also of 1905; NHLE no. 1386163, Grade II) - the right to wear the motto "Omnia Audax" (Daring All), the right to wear the yellow hackle and the right to have the red rose of Lancashire on the regimental colour.

The memorial was unveiled by the 17th Earl of Derby on 18 March 1905. The statue was originally erected in Market Square in Bury town centre (where it is marked on the 1910 Ordnance Survey 1:2,500 map), before being moved to its present site in 1920 where it is marked on the 1930 1:2,500 map.

Sir George James Frampton (1860–1928) was a notable sculptor and craftsman who exhibited across Europe with the Symbolists. Through the art magazine The Studio, with which he was closely associated from its inception in 1893, he greatly influenced the rise of the late-C19 style of decorative design in Germany known as Jugendstil. His career was one of almost unbroken and resounding success: he was awarded the Royal Academy gold medal and travelling studentship, a medal at the Paris Salon of 1889 and the médaille d'honneur at the Paris Exhibition of 1900; in 1894 he was created an honorary Doctor of Laws at St Andrews University and was elected an Associate of the Royal Academy, becoming a full member in 1902, the year he was also made master of the Art Workers' Guild; in 1908 he was knighted. He was one of the founding signatories of the Society of British Sculptors (becoming its president in the year it became a Royal society), and was a member of the Royal Fine Arts Commission from its foundation in 1924. The work for which Frampton is perhaps best-known is his statue of Peter Pan (1912) in Kensington Gardens, London (NHLE no. 1217595, Grade II*). His other important works include (among many) a series of statues of Queen Victoria in Calcutta, India, St Helens (NHLE no. 1075878, Grade II*), Newcastle upon Tyne (NHLE no. 1024801, Grade II*), Leeds (NHLE no. 1255642, Grade II*), and Winnipeg, Canada; and several public monuments in London, notably statues of Quintin Hogg (NHLE no. 1226993, Grade II) and Edith Cavell (NHLE no. 1264768, Grade I).

Details

Boer War memorial of 1905, relocated to its present position in 1920, by Sir George James Frampton.

MATERIALS: bronze statue and inscriptions, on a sandstone plinth.

PLAN: a square plinth surmounted by the statue.

DESCRIPTION: standing at the southern point of Whitehead Gardens, with the Whitehead Tower and the Town Hall to the N.

The plinth has a moulded, inward-stepping base and an almost imperceptibly-tapering shaft, with overhanging cap. There is a bronze panel fixed to each face with a design in low relief. The upper part of each panel has a stylised Art Nouveau wood of oak trees with a laurel wreath beneath, which is tied by ribbons which run among the trees. Below this is an inscription in artistic lettering with a bead-and-reel border. On the front (S) panel the wreath contains the regimental badge (a flaming grenade with the battle honour ‘Egypt’ on a sphinx), with a Lancashire rose in front of the tree canopy. This face is inscribed: TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY/ OF LANCASHIRE FUSILIERS/ LINE, MILITIA AND VOLUNTEER/ WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR/ THEIR SOVEREIGN & COUNTRY/ IN SOUTH AFRICA 1900-2/ THIS MONUMENT IS ERECTED/ BY THEIR COMRADES OF ALL/ RANKS & BY FRIENDS OF/ THE REGIMENT.

The E face inscription reads: THE NAMES OF OFFICERS,/ NON-COMMISSIONED OFFICERS AND MEN/ WHO WERE KILLED OR WHO DIED/ IN SOUTH AFRICA/ 1900-1902.

Below this are listed 50 names of the Fallen above the rank of Private, in descending order of rank and (except for the officers) alphabetically by surname.

The N face is headed PRIVATES, with 84 names listed alphabetically by surname. The W face continues the list of Privates, with a further 87 names.

The statue is a portrait of a soldier of the regiment wearing ‘review order’ uniform, which is realistically depicted, including his medals. His pose is of dignified triumph. His left hand holds his rifle, whose butt rests on the rocky outcrop on which he stands. With his right hand he salutes by holding aloft his busby, as a result his left heel being slightly raised. The statue is signed G Frampton RA on the E side.


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, 20 July 2017.

Sources

Books and journals
Hartwell, C, Hyde, M, Pevsner, N, The Buildings of England: Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East, (2004, reprinted 2010 with corrections), 180

Websites
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography entry for Sir George Frampton, accessed 15 February 2017 from www.oxforddnb.com/view/printable/33242
History of the memorial on Victorian Wars website, accessed 15 February 2017 from http://victorianwars.com/viewtopic.php?f=17&t=10446&p=52914&hilit=bury+boer+war+memorial#p52914
War Memorials Register, accessed 15 February 2017 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/24106
'Soldier who reminds generations of the Fusiliers' finest hour', Lancashire Telegraph, 19 February 2005, accessed 15 February 2017 from www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/news/5794163.Soldier_who_reminds_generations_of_the_Fusiliers__finest_hour/
War Memorials Online, accessed 20 July 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/153138

End of official list entry

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