Rogate War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, designed by Sir John Ninian Comper with William Drinkwater Gough as sculptor, and unveiled on 28 August 1920. Further names added after the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Rogate 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 local community, and the sacrifice it has made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Architectural interest: an elegant and striking Calvary cross with carved decorative details;
* Designer: by noteworthy architect Sir John Ninian Comper;
* Group value: with the Parish Church of St Bartholomew (Grade I) and Rogate Cross Cottage (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 Rogate as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the members of the local community who lost their lives in the First World War. Designed by Sir John Ninian Comper with William Drinkwater Gough as sculptor, it was unveiled on 28 August 1920. The memorial was paid for by subscription with £403 17s 3d raised by the local community. It commemorates 28 members of the village community who fell in the First World War.

The memorial carries the name of one woman, a nurse, Cicely Elger. She was a member of the Voluntary Aid Detachment (VAD), a voluntary organisation providing field nursing services. She had been a nurse at Clayton Court Red Cross Auxiliary Hospital from 1916 to 1918 but died during the influenza pandemic in 1918. An obituary in the Red Cross Journal, 1918, stated that "Miss Elger died on February 10 from pneumonia following influenza... For two and a half years she was a devoted and conscientious worker at Clayton Court Hospital, where her loss is felt most keenly by all who knew her. Clayton Court, it will be remembered, was most generously placed at the disposal of the Red Cross by Mr and Mrs Elger early in the war. After doing so much to help their country, it seems hard that they should have to bear this further personal sacrifice."

An inscription and names of the seven fallen have been added for the Second World War.

The architect Sir John Ninian Comper (1864-1960) attended Ruskin’s School at Oxford before working as assistant to CE Kempe, the glass painter and church craftsman. He was articled to church architects Bodley and Garner in 1883. Comper became renowned for the virtuosity of his designs for church fixtures, fittings, furnishings and stained glass. Before circa 1904 he based his work on C14 Gothic, but following a trip to the Mediterranean he developed a more eclectic style which synthesized many decorative and architectural styles. Comper was knighted in 1950. He was responsible for the design of numerous war memorials including the Welsh National War Memorial (Grade II*), the Warriors' Chapel at Westminster Abbey (1925), and the memorial crosses at St Laurence’s Church, Long Eaton; St Margaret’s Church, Tintinhull; St Mary's Church, Ketton; and St Andrew’s Church, Hertford (all listed Grade II). His war memorials at Oakham, Rutland, and Uppingham were, like Rogate, executed in collaboration with William Drinkwater Gough (circa 1861-1937), a mason and sculptor based in Kennington, south London, who later went on to work with Sir Giles Gilbert Scott on projects including Ampleforth Abbey, North Yorkshire and the church of St Alphege at Bath.

Comper’s original design for the Rogate memorial included a figure of the Virgin and Child on the reverse of the cross-head, but for reasons unknown this was not included when the memorial was sculpted. He described this war memorial as “the best of many I have designed”. It displays his adeptness at combining Gothic and Renaissance motifs.

Details

Rogate War Memorial is built into the churchyard wall of the Parish Church of St Bartholomew (Grade I).

It comprises a tall tapering stone octagonal shaft with base spurs supporting an elaborate crucifixion scene with Christ and two mourning figures, the Virgin Mary and the beloved disciple, John. Beneath the cross is a shield carved with the Greek letters alpha and omega, along with a cross pattée. To the reverse of the cross is another shield bearing the monogram IHS. On the face of the shaft is a figure of St George and the dragon under a Gothic canopy. The shaft is supported by four classical scrolls and the base is bonded into the churchyard wall to leave two sides of a square exposed.

Across the projecting sides of the base is the inscription IN MEMORIAM AD 1914 – 1919 (28 NAMES), and below ANNO DNI 1939 – 1945 (7 NAMES).

Sources

Websites
Cicely Elger, accessed 9 Nov 2016 from http://www.redcross.org.uk/~/media/BritishRedCross/Documents/Who%20we%20are/History%20and%20archives/VAD%20casualties%20during%20the%20First%20World%20War.pdf
War Memorials Register, accessed 9 November 2016 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/16647
War Memorials Online, accessed 9 November 2016 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/247768

Other
Brunning, A (2016) ‘Remembering Sacrifice and Valour, Rogate’s War Memorial’ (Rogate Heritage Centre)

End of official list entry

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