Summary
War memorial, 1929, Moderne style.
Reasons for Designation
Alkrington and Providence War Memorial, built in 1929, is listed Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on the congregation of the chapel, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Design interest: an unusual Moderne style war memorial, that is well-executed and fashioned in good quality materials.
History
The Alkrington & Providence War Memorial was erected in 1929 to commemorate both the union of Salem and Alkrington chapels, and the fallen from the Salem congregations who fell during the First World War; the two columns representing the two chapels becoming one at the apex to support the cross. The memorial is situated as the central focus of a small memorial garden, set in the angle of the Alkrington and Providence United Reformed Church. Following the Second World War the memorial was re-dedicated and a tablet was added at its base to record the fallen from Alkrington Congregational Church who died in that conflict.
Details
War memorial, 1929, Moderne style. PLAN: rectangular memorial, standing on an octagonal plinth and a circular base. MATERIALS: Red sandstone memorial on a limestone plinth. The memorial comprises a pair of plain rectangular sandstone columns conjoined at the base and the apex, with a staged architrave and foliate brackets supporting the shaft of a stylised Latin cross. The shaft of the cross is recessed and emblazoned on both sides with the date AD1929. The columns rise from a rectangular pedestal raised on a narrow projecting base. The pedestal has two raised and foliate framed panels; the front (N) panel reads + / THAT THEY MAY BE / + / MADE PERFECTLY ONE / John 17:23 / THIS MEMORIAL IS ERECTED TO RECORD / THE UNION OF / SALEM AND ALKRINGTON / CONGREGATIONAL CHURCHES / JUNE 1929 / AND TO KEEP / IN REMEMBRANCE THE / MEN OF SALEM / WHO DIED IN THE / GREAT WAR 1914 – 1919 / THE SOULS OF THE RIGHTEOUS / ARE IN THE HAND OF GOD / WISDOM 3:1. The rear panel records the 11 names of the Fallen from the First World War. A secondary canted sandstone tablet on a stylised scroll base that projects out from the base of the cross over the upper step and onto the first step of the octagonal plinth; it reads: IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF / ALKRINGTON CONG. CHURCH / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES / IN WORLD WAR 1939 -1945 and records the eight names of the Fallen from the Second World War. The plinth stands on a circular base of stone sets within an arc of edging stones.
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, 23 November 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), 518Websites Middleton, Alkrington and Providence URC, WW1 and WW2, accessed 07 November 2016 from www.mlfhs.org.uk/data/war_memorials_images.php?memorial=551 War Memorials Online, accessed 23 November 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/253747 War Memorials Register, accessed 07 November 2016 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/15884
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
The listed building is shown coloured blue on the attached map. Pursuant to s.1 (5A) of the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 (‘the Act’), structures attached to or within the curtilage of the listed building (save those coloured blue on the map) are not to be treated as part of the listed building for the purposes of the Act.
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