Tong War Memorial

Tong Cemetery, Tong Street, Bradford, BD4 6RB

Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places

Overview

First World War memorial, 1925, by Messrs B Watson and Sons. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1467525
Date first listed:: 03-Dec-2019
List Entry Name:: Tong War Memorial
Statutory Address:: Tong Cemetery, Tong Street, Bradford, BD4 6RB

The Missing Pieces Project

Share your view of unique places.

Add your contribution

Location

Location of this list entry and nearby places that are also listed. Use our map search to find more listed places.

There is a problem

This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale.

What is the National Heritage List for England?

The National Heritage List for England is a unique register of our country's most significant historic buildings and sites. The places on the list are protected by law and most are not open to the public.

The list includes:

🏠 Buildings
🏰 Scheduled monuments
🌳 Parks and gardens
⚔️ Battlefields
⚓ Shipwrecks

Find out more about listing

Historic England Archive

Search over 1 million photographs and drawings from the 1850s to the present day using our images archive.

Find Photos

Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II
List Entry Number:: 1467525
Date first listed:: 03-Dec-2019
List Entry Name:: Tong War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: Tong Cemetery, Tong Street, Bradford, BD4 6RB

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: Tong Cemetery, Tong Street, Bradford, BD4 6RB

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Bradford (Metropolitan Authority)
Parish:: Non Civil Parish
National Grid Reference:: SE1952029954

Summary

First World War memorial, 1925, by Messrs B Watson and Sons.

Reasons for Designation

Tong War Memorial, 1925, 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 First World War.

Architectural interest:

* a well-executed figurative war memorial employing good quality materials and craftsmanship, with an accurate representation of a First World War soldier.

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: therefore the memorials provided the main focus of the grief felt at this great loss. One such memorial was raised at Tong, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by 133 members of the local community, who lost their lives in the First World War.

Tong War Memorial was unveiled on 7 November 1925 by Lieutenant Colonel A Gadie MP, and dedicated by Dr Perowne the Bishop of Bradford. It was designed by Messrs B Watson and Sons, who also designed Hunsworth War Memorial, West Yorkshire. Originally when unveiled, the names of the fallen were inscribed in gold letters, but further names were also added shortly afterwards on three sides of the plinth, and were later painted in black. Unlike many other war memorials the names of the fallen from the Second World War were not added to it, as they were added to the war memorial in Tong Park.

Details

First World War memorial, 1925 by Messrs B Watson and Sons.

MATERIALS: granite figure, on a granite and sandstone pedestal and base.

PLAN: square in plan.

DESCRIPTION: the memorial comprises an accurate, life-size carved figure of an infantryman supported by a tree stump, wearing a soft cap, with his head bowed; his hands resting on the butt of his Lee-Enfield rifle, with its muzzle placed on his left foot. The figure stands on a square two-stepped base, the lower step is of sandstone and is inscribed: TONG'S TRIBUTE. The figure is mounted on a pedestal, with a carved moulded sandstone cornice, a granite dado and a moulded two-step sandstone plinth, raised on a four-step ashlar base. The north-west polished granite panel of the dado is inscribed in black letters: IN HONOUR/ OF THE MEN WHO FELL/ IN THE GREAT WAR/ 1914 - 1919, with the names of the fallen inscribed in alphabetical order on all four panels. The upper step of the plinth has a torus moulding and the north-west elevation is inscribed; " SO THEY PASSED OVER,/ AND THE TRUMPET SOUNDED/ FOR THEM ON THE OTHER SIDE.", and the remaining elevations are inscribed with the names of an additional 14 fallen soldiers. The lower step of the plinth has a chamfered upper surface and the north-west elevation has a laurel wreath with billowing ribbons carved in relief.

Sources

Websites
Imperial War Museum War Memorial Register - Tong, accessed 25 October 2019 from https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/28515
War Memorials Online - Tong, accessed 25 October 2019 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/node/218137
Other
Leeds Mercury, 7 November 1925, Page 3, Dedication of Tong War Memorial
Yorkshire Post and Leeds Intelligencer 9 November 1925, Page 5, Tong Memorial

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.