Lyne War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, by Farmer and Brindley, unveiled on 9 October 1920.

Reasons for Designation

Lyne War Memorial 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 community, and the sacrifices it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an ornate and striking cross with carved decorative details;
* Designer: by Farmer and Brindley, a firm of decorative craftsmen providing architectural sculpture for many of the most important architects including work on Sir George Gilbert Scott’s Albert Memorial, London, and Alfred Waterhouse’s Natural History Museum, London, and Town Hall, Manchester;
* Group value: with the Church of the Holy Trinity (Grade II) and lych gate (Grade II).

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.

One such memorial was raised at Lyne as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War.

Lyne War Memorial was unveiled on 9 October 1920 by Lt Gen Sir Edward T H Hotton and dedicated by the Archdeacon of Surrey, Canon A G Robinson. It commemorates local servicemen who fell in the First World War and was created by Farmer and Brindley, a firm of monumental masons and sculptors, stone importers and architectural modellers, active between 1851 and 1929. Much of their C19 work was for Sir George Gilbert Scott and they often collaborated with other well-known architects including Lockwood and Mawson, Bodley and Garner, and Alfred Waterhouse. They were responsible for a number of war memorials, including the Albert Memorial, London and the Waterloo Station Victory Arch.

Three plaques are fixed onto the church wall to the rear of the memorial cross which bear the names of those who fell in the First and Second World Wars as well as subsequent conflicts.

In 2008 the memorial was conserved with the help of grant aid.

Details

MATERIALS: Portland stone.

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial stands on a paved area in the churchyard of the Holy Trinity Church in the north Surrey village of Lyne. It comprises a cross with its face carved with Celtic-style knotwork on a slim shaft, standing on a trapezoid-shaped plinth and a three-stepped base.

The inscriptions are incised and painted black on three sides of the plinth. The main dedication on the front face reads: THIS CROSS IS ERECTED/ TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ FOR OUR VICTORIES BY/ SEA AND LAND DURING/ THE GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919.

One face is inscribed: IN EVERLASTING HONOUR/ OF THOSE WHO HAVING/ LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAREST/ TO THEM MADE THE GREAT/ SACRIFICE FOR THE SAKE/ OF RIGHTEOUSNESS AND/ FREEDOM/ “MAY THEY REST IN PEACE”. Another reads: IN PERPETUAL AND GLORIOUS/ MEMORY OF THE SIXTEEN/ MEN OF THIS PARISH WHO/ LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES FOR/ THEIR COUNTRY/ “THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE”.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Trust, accessed 21 Oct 2016 from www.warmemorials.org/search-grants/?gID=533
War Memorials Online, accessed 21 Oct 2016 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/100863
War Memorials Register, accessed 21 Oct 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/23254

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