Stoke-on-Trent new Cenotaph and surrounding walls

Summary

A First and Second World War memorial in the form of a cenotaph, erected in 1938, with surrounding walls.

Reasons for Designation

Stoke New Cenotaph and surrounding walls, a First and Second World War memorial erected in 1938, is listed at Grade II, for the following principal reasons:
* Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on the local community, and the sacrifice it made in the conflicts of the C20;
* Group value: with the Grade-II listed King’s Hall, in whose forecourt it stands.

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. This was the result of both the huge impact on communities of the loss of three quarters of a million British lives, and also 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.

The present Stoke-on-Trent war memorial, known as the New Cenotaph, was unveiled on 7 July 1938, to commemorate those townspeople who had lost their lives in both World Wars. The memorial replaced a First World War memorial of Portland stone, a replica of the Whitehall cenotaph, which had been erected in 1920, funded by public subscription. It was set up in a prominent location outside the Kings Hall.

Details

A First and Second World War memorial in the form of a cenotaph, erected in 1938, with surrounding walls.

MATERIALS
Brick.

DESCRIPTION
A cenotaph of columns of bull-nosed red bricks, with a large cross in relief, of buff brick, to each face, set on a plain red brick plinth with moulded top. The cenotaph steps in towards the top, and has a ball finial at each corner supporting a flat capping stone. A bronze plaque affixed to the front face of the plinth carries the inscription THE / GLORIOUS / DEAD / 1914 – 1918 / 1939 – 1945. Further plaques commemorate the Battle of Normandy (1944, set up by the Normandy Veterans’ Association), Battle of Dunkirk (1940, set up by the Dunkirk Veterans’ Association), the Battle of El Alamein (1942, set up by the Eighth Army Association) and the Korean War (1950-3).

SUBSIDIARY FEATURES
The memorial stands in a square enclosure bounded by low walls of brown brick, with a canted pier with flat stone cap at each corner, and scrolling brick to the openings on each 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, 16 March 2017.

Sources

Websites
War Memorials Register, accessed 08.02.17 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/13670
War Memorials Online, accessed 16 March 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/110134

Other
Staffordshire Advertiser, 27 November 1920: The Stoke Cenotaph - Other Potteries Towns to be asked to Erect Memorials

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