Longholme Methodist Church War Memorial

Summary

First World War memorial, 1921, with Second World War addition.

Reasons for Designation

Longholme Methodist Church War Memorial is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

Architectural interest:
* it is a dignified war memorial, executed in good quality materials, with careful attention to its form and detailing.

Historic interest:
* as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on the former members of the Longholme Methodist Church Sunday School, who fell during the First and Second World Wars.

Group value:
* it has spatial group value situated in the churchyard opposite the entrance of the Grade II-listed Longholme Methodist Church (NHLE 1072786) and in close proximity to the Grade-II listed Longholme Parsonage (NHLE 1361993) and the Gateway and Railings to Churchyard of Longholme Methodist Church (NHLE 1072787).

History

Longholme Methodist Church War Memorial is situated in the churchyard, in front of the entrance of the listed Grade II Longholme Methodist Church, Rawtenstall, (NHLE 1072786). The memorial was originally erected adjacent to the Sunday School on Bank Street and was un-veiled at a well-attended ceremony on 29 October 1921. It commemorates 20 former attendees of the Sunday School who fell during the First World War. Following the Second World War, a scroll tablet was added at the base of the memorial to commemorate the 10 men who fell in that conflict. Due to urban redevelopment, the memorial was moved and re-erected in front of the church during the 1960s and remains a focus of commemoration.

Details

First World War memorial, 1921, with Second World War additions.

MATERIALS: ashlar limestone

DESCRIPTION: the war memorial is located prominently in the churchyard, situated in front of the entrance of Longholme Methodist Church; it is set in the re-entrant angle between the main path and the pathway to the parsonage. It comprises a Bottony cross with a hexagonal splayed shaft, and cross-arms terminating in conical caps. Both the front and rear intersections of the cross have an intaglio carved rose. The cross is mounted on a fluted shaft that has a moulded round cornice and base that stands on a square capped pedestal, with canted sides and raised panels. The pedestal is placed upon a large round scotia and torus moulded base surrounded by white marble chippings, within a low square kerb, set between short conical posts. Two low steps with rounded corners project from the curb at the front of the memorial. The front (east) panel of the pedestal has an inscription that reads: IN GRATEFUL AND LOVING / MEMORY OF THE / LADS OF OUR SUNDAY SCHOOL / WHO FELL IN THE GREAT WAR / 1914 - 1919. // "THEY SHALL NOT GROW OLD AS WE THAT / ARE LEFT GROW OLD, / AGE SHALL NOT WEARY THEM, NOR YEARS CONDEMN". The rear panel (west) has an inscribed sprig of fronds tied by a ribbon, with an inscription below that reads: UNNAMED AT TIMES, AT TIMES UNKNOWN / OUR GRAVES LIE THICK BEYOND THE SEAS; / UNNAMED BUT NOT BY HIM UNKNOWN;- / "HE KNOWS; - HE SEES": The side panels record the names of the 20 Fallen of the First World War. A secondary tablet in the form of lectern with carved side panels and an un-rolled scroll, is situated at the foot of the pedestal, it is inscribed: 1939 - 1945 and records the 10 names of the Fallen of the Second World War. The tablet rests on the upper surface of the top step, at the front of the memorial.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museum - War Memorial Register - Longholme Methodist Church, accessed 29 May 2018 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/62834
War Memorials Online - Longholme Methodist Church, accessed 29 May 2018 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/171840/
Lancashire Family History and Heraldry Society - War Memorials - Longholme Methodist Church, accessed 29 May 2018 from http://www.rossendale-fhhs.org.uk/files/war_memorials/longholme_methodist_memorial.html

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