Featherstone Boys School War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, designed by Mr W T Curtis.

Reasons for Designation

The Featherstone Boys School 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 the school and the wider community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20.

Architectural interest:

* as a restrained and well-composed memorial designed by the architect William Thomas Curtis and the sculptor John Tweed.

History

The memorial at Featherstone Boys School was erected as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by the school’s old boys, who lost their lives in the First World War. The design was produced by William Thomas Curtis, FRIBA, and the sculpture was created by John Tweed. It was constructed by Messrs E J and A T Bradford, costing approximately £300. The memorial was unveiled 16 February 1921 by Field Marshall Sir William R Robertson Bart and commemorates 222 servicemen who died during the First World War. 

John Tweed (1869-1933) was born in Glasgow and studied part-time at Glasgow School of Art. He moved to London in 1890 and worked for Hamo Thornycroft, studying at the South London Technical Art School and the Royal Academy Schools. He studied briefly in Paris under Alexandre Falguière. In 1893 he obtained an important portraiture commission through Edwin Lutyens and Herbert Baker and in 1901 was commissioned to complete the memorial to the first Duke of Wellington in St Paul’s Cathedral, after the death of Alfred Stevens. A close friend of Rodin, he organised the exhibition of Rodin’s sculpture at Grosvenor House, London, in 1914. Following the First World War he produced many statues and monuments, a number of which are listed, including the Rifle Brigade memorial in Grosvenor Gardens (Grade II*), the statue of Lord Kitchener on Horse Guards, Westminster (Grade II), and the statue of Sir John Moore at Shorncliffe Barracks, Folkestone (Grade II).

William Thomas Curtis was County Architect of Middlesex from 1930 to 1946 and with William Howard Burchett, Assistant Architect to the Education Committee, was responsible for innovative modernist public buildings in the county, a number of which are listed Grade II including the Magistrates Court, Harrow , Bowes Road Library and Arnos Pool, Enfield, and Kenton Library.

John Tweed and William Curtis worked on a number of war memorials together, a notable example being the Barnsley War Memorial (Grade II*).

In 1982 the bronze soldier figure was stolen from the top of the memorial. It was restored in around 2009.

Details

War memorial at Featherstone Boys School, designed by William Thomas Curtis, FRIBA, with sculpture by John Tweed, unveiled 16 February 1921.

MATERIALS: Portland stone memorial wall with bronze soldier figure.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial consists of a three-part canted limestone wall capped with a projecting stone cornice which shelters the memorial inscriptions. This structure supports a small tapering stone plinth with a bronze figure of a soldier leaning on his rifle. Below the overhanging cornice is a bracket with a carved wreath hanging from it. The memorial sits on a single stone step. The inscription on the memorial reads TO THE GLORIOUS MEMORY OF/ (NAMES)/ OLD BOYS OF THIS SCHOOL/ WHO FELL IN THE WAR 1914 – 1918/ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museums: War Memorials Register, accessed 7 March 2018 from www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/47859
War Memorials Online, accessed 7 March 2018 from www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/128083

Other
‘Memorial to School’s Fallen’, Southall and Norwood Advertiser and Gazette, 18 February 1921

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