Summary
First World War memorial landscape, 1922, by John James Joass of London, with Second World War memorials added in the early 1950s.
Reasons for Designation
Ilkley Memorial Gardens is registered at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: it is a good example of a 'living memorial'; an eloquent witness to the impact of tragic world events on this local community and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Designer: it was designed by the renowned early C20 architect John James Joass who also designed the garden's First World War memorial, gate piers, gates, railings and steps, and is a rare example of a landscape designed by this architect;
* Degree of survival: the garden is largely unaltered and Joass' central octagonal focal point containing the First World War memorial with radiating avenues remains intact;
* Group value: it has strong group value with the Grade II listed structures within the garden, including the First World War memorial, Second World War memorial and associated pavilion shelters, and gate piers, gates, railings and steps.
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. The scale of human loss suffered during the war demanded a different scale and different type of commemoration than had gone before. While many towns, cities and villages opted for architectural monuments, many others opted for memorials that provided for the needs of the living as well as commemorating the dead. Such memorials included parks and gardens.
Ilkley Memorial Gardens was designed by the London architect John James Joass and was laid out in 1922. In 1919 Ilkley War Memorial Committee held an architectural competition and invited designs for the erection of a First World War memorial and the laying out of memorial gardens at the west end of The Grove, Ilkley's main street, on a parcel of land that had been bought by Joseph Cooper of Norwood House and donated to Ilkley District Council. The architect Walter Brierley of York was appointed as assessor and the designs were not to exceed £3500.
Seven designs were submitted and the selected winner was John James Joass of London, whose design of an urn-topped cenotaph accessed via three avenues and surrounded by flower beds and seating was described by Brierley as being 'dignified, evenly proportioned, and scholarly'. The design also included provision for a crescent of 'artistic trees' behind the cenotaph (in the location of the Second World War memorial), but historic photographs do not appear to show these and it appears unlikely that this was implemented.
The memorial was erected in 1922 and the gardens were laid out at the same time. The memorial was unveiled on 23 July 1922 by Colonel J H Hastings and Captain Thomas Harold Broadbent Maufe VC (who was later accidentally killed during the Second World War by mortar practice, and is recorded on the plaque inside the garden's Second World War memorial), and the dedication was led by Arthur W T Perowne, Bishop of Bradford.
In the early 1950s a Second World War memorial was erected in the gardens, in the form of a triumphal arch-style shrine and two pavilion shelters. The memorial took several years to construct as the Minister of Works, R R Stokes, prevented the memorial from being completed in 1950 as the war memorial committee had started works without the relevant permission. The committee wanted the shelters erected in time for the Remembrance Day service in 1950 and already had the support of the Ministry of Health, so they commenced work in the spring of 1950, believing that they could spend up to £500 at this initial stage. However, this was not the case and the Ministry of Works refused the granting of a licence (the Ministry had already exceeded their ceiling and overspent on a new embassy in Rio de Janeiro and the acquisition of a Constable painting). The local people were outraged and the MP took up the case, forcing Stokes to subsequently agree to reconsider the decision. However, in the end the pavilions were completed without a licence.
The Second World War memorial was unveiled on 26 April 1953 by Lieutenant-General Sir Philip Maxwell Balfour, General Officer Commanding-in-Chief Northern Command. The dedication was led by Canon A H Wellington, Vicar of St Margaret's Church, Ilkley.
Details
First World War memorial landscape, 1922, by John James Joass of London, with Second World War memorials added in the early 1950s.
LOCATION
Ilkley Memorial Gardens is located on a prominent site at the heart of the town centre at the west end of The Grove, Ilkley's principal shopping street. The garden is bordered by The Grove to the east, Grove Road and Kings Road to the south, The Grove's junction with Bolton Bridge Road to the north, and Parish Ghyll stream to the west.
The garden, which is approximately 3,286 sq. m in area, has an irregular hexagonal shape with the narrowest part at the east end and the second narrowest part at the west end bordering Parish Ghyll stream.
The principal structures, which comprise the First World War cenotaph, Second World War memorial shrine and shelter pavilions (all listed at Grade II), are imposing architectural monuments and features that act as focal points within the memorial landscape.
MEMORIAL LANDSCAPE
A First World War memorial is located to the centre of the garden at the end of an axial processional avenue/walk lined with lime trees that runs east-west from a gated main entrance at the east end of the garden. Further secondary gated entrances lie on the north and south sides of the garden and provide access to short avenues that lead to the memorial and also an arcing path that sweeps around the west end of the garden and provides access to a Second World War memorial and pavilion shelters. The First World War memorial is surrounded by an octagonal shaped area of hard landscaping with a squared-off east end and bench seating. The Second World War memorial shrine lies on the same axis as the First World war memorial and is located towards the west end of the garden. It is flanked on each side by pavilion shelters that are arranged in an arc formation around the west path.
As well as the three avenues converging on the First World War memorial from the main and secondary entrances, three further short avenues/paths project out from the memorial to the west, north-west and south-west in the style of spokes of a wheel to join with the arcing west path, which also has bench seating. Wedge-shaped areas of lawn incorporating large flower beds to their centre separate the avenue/path 'spokes' from each other. The remaining areas of the east section of the garden are laid to lawn with two flowerbeds to the north-east and south-east of the First World War memorial, and a further narrow flowerbed to the north-east of the north pavilion shelter.
A very large horse chestnut tree (pre-dating the memorial garden) occupies the far north corner of the garden and two individual lime trees lie within the lawned areas to the north and south of the main tree-lined processional avenue. The garden is enclosed on the north, east and south roadsides by decorative wrought-iron fencing that is planted with beech hedging shaped into a wave formation. Two further short sections of beech hedging with a flat top flank the north pavilion shelter. The far west end of the garden behind the Second World War memorial shrine and pavilion shelters is in the style of a woodland glade with grass, shrubs and trees, including spruces.
PRINCIPAL STRUCTURES
The First World War memorial (Grade II listed) is constructed of Portland stone and consists of a square cenotaph surmounted by an urn, which is set upon a large stepped octagonal platform with concave corners and small Portland stone bollards. Each face of the cenotaph has bronze panels recording the names, rank and regiment of those killed, along with a commemorative inscription on the east face facing the garden's main entrance and processional path.
The Second World War memorial shrine (Grade II listed) is also constructed of Portland stone and takes the form of a classical triumphal arch-style shrine with a tripartite east front. The shrine is set upon a large irregular-hexagonal shaped plinth. Inscribed tablets within the shrine interior record and commemorate those killed during the war, as well as a soldier killed in Cyprus in 1956. Flanking the Second World War shrine are two pavilion shelters (Grade II listed) that also form part of the Second World War memorial. The shrine and pavilions are arranged around the arc of the garden's west path and all face the First World War memorial.
SUBSIDIARY STRUCTURES
Enclosing the memorial garden on the north, south and east roadsides is decorative wrought-iron fencing (Grade II listed). At the east end of the garden, and forming the main entrance, is a pair of square sandstone gate piers with rounded caps surmounted by wrought-iron lamp standards, and decorative wrought-iron gates (all Grade II listed). Further smaller wrought-iron gates in similar style exist to entrances on the north and south roadsides (both Grade II listed); that to the south side alongside King's Road is accessed via a flight of stone steps with side walls surmounted by low wrought-iron railings in similar style to the gates (Grade II listed).
