North Eastern Railway War Memorial

North Eastern Railway War Memorial
United Kingdom
For employees of the North Eastern Railway killed in the First World War
Unveiled 1924
Location 53°57′31″N 1°05′23″W / 53.958658°N 1.089814°W / 53.958658; -1.089814Coordinates: 53°57′31″N 1°05′23″W / 53.958658°N 1.089814°W / 53.958658; -1.089814
Station Approach, York, England
Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
Listed Building – Grade II*
Official name North Eastern Railway Company War Memorial
Designated 10 September 1970
Reference no. 1256553

The North Eastern Railway War Memorial is a First World War memorial in York in northern England. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens to commemorate employees of the North Eastern Railway (NER) who left to fight in the First World War and were killed while serving. It is one of six war memorials designed by Lutyens in England to incorporate an obelisk and one of two commissioned by a railway company (the other being the Midland Railway War Memorial in Derby).[1] The NER's board voted in early 1920 to allocate £20,000 for a memorial and commissioned Lutyens. The committee for the York City War Memorial followed suit and also appointed Lutyens, but both schemes became embroiled in controversy. Concerns were raised from within the community about the effect of the NER memorial on the city walls and its impact on the proposed scheme for the city's war memorial, given that the two memorials were planned to be 100 yards (90 metres) apart and the city's budget was a tenth of the NER's. The controversy was resolved after Lutyens modified his plans for the NER memorial to move it away from the walls and the city opted for a revised scheme on land just outside the walls; coincidentally the land was owned by the NER, whose board donated it to the city.

The NER memorial was unveiled on 14 June 1924 by Field Marshal Lord Plumer. It consists of a 54-foot (16-metre) high obelisk which rises from the rear portion of a three-sided screen wall. The wall forms a recess in which stands Lutyens' characteristic Stone of Remembrance. The wall itself is decorated wit several carved swags and wreaths, including a wreath surrounding the NER's coat of arms at the base of the obelisk. The memorial is a grade II* listed building, and part of a "national collection" of Lutyens' war memorials.

Background

In the aftermath of the First World War, thousands of war memorials were built across Britain. Amongst the most prominent designers of memorials was architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, described by Historic England as "the leading English architect of his generation". Lutyens designed the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London, which became the focus for the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations, as well as the Thiepval Memorial to the Missing—the largest British war memorial anywhere in the world—and the Stone of Remembrance which appears in all large Commonwealth War Graves Commission cemeteries and in several of Lutyens' war memorials in Britain, including the North Eastern Railway's. The NER's memorial is also the second of two war memorials Lutyens designed for railway companies—the first was the Midland Railway War Memorial in Derby—and one of six of his war memorials in England to include an obelisk. The design resembles that of Lutyens' Southend-on-Sea War Memorial (unveiled in 1921).[1]

The war memorial is one of several buildings and structures in the centre of York related to the North Eastern Railway Company (NER), which was headquartered in the city, including the company's head office and the original railway station. The site for the memorial was chosen as being immediately adjacent to the company's offices. Following the end of the First World War, the NER decided to erect a war memorial to commemorate the 2,236 of its employees who left to fight in the war and were killed while serving. At a meeting in February 1920 the company's board voted to allocate £20,000 to the project rather than seek donations from the company's workforce, and commissioned Lutyens to design it.[1] Lutyens' commission was confirmed in October 1921, for a fee of £700 plus out-of-pocket expenses. The NER's deputy general manager explained that Lutyens had been chosen because he was "the fashionable architect and therefore could do no wrong".[2]

Inception

The project became embroiled in a controversy surrounding its size and location, which grew to envelope the proposed York City War Memorial. Following the railway company's lead, the City War Memorial Committee also appointed Lutyens, and endorsed his plan for a Stone of Remembrance elevated on a large plinth in the moat by Lendal Bridge, 100 yards (90 metres) from the proposed site of the NER's memorial. The controversy revolved partly around the relationship between the two memorials—Lutyens felt that the two designs would complement one another, but the city had given Lutyens a budget of £2,000—a tenth of that allocated to him by the NER—and some members of the local community were concerned that the railway company's memorial would be much larger and would overshadow the city's.[1][3] Another concern, raised by a city councillor, was that visitors walking into the city centre from the railway station would see the NER's memorial first. Lutyens responded that he felt the two memorials would compliment one another and show a common purpose, and thus that their proximity was not an issue.[1][3]

The issue was further complicated by the proximity of both proposed schemes to York's ancient city walls; both schemes required the consent of the Ancient Monuments Board (later English Heritage and then Historic England), particularly as Lutyens' design for the NER involved the memorial abutting against the city walls and would have required excavation of part of the ramparts, to which the Yorkshire Architectural and York Archaeological Society (YAYAS) strenuously objected. The NER's in-house architect suggested moving the memorial 10 feet (3.0 metres) to the east, away from the wall; Lutyens, in India at the time, dismissed the idea in a cable.[1][4][5] In February 1922, the secretary of the YAYAS, Dr William Evelyn, gave a lecture in which he was severely critical of the NER's proposed memorial. He told his audience "I think it is an enormous pity that they cannot find room in which to place a sacred emblem commemorative of the patriotism, bravery, and self-sacrifice of our own soldiers of the twentieth century and that it should be considered necessary to deface and despoil another sacred emblem".[3] The City War Memorial Committee and representatives of the NER met with CR Peers, the Ancient Monuments Board's chief inspector, at the NER's offices on 8 July 1922, in preparation for which the NER erected a full-size wooden model of their proposed memorial. Peers approved the city's scheme, noting that its proposed location was in fact a newer structure and not part of the walls' ramparts, but requested that Lutyens submit a revised design for the NER's memorial to move it away from the wall. Lutyens acquiesced but observed that the modifications would require a reduction in the size of the screen wall and thus in the size of the names to be listed on it, which he felt was detrimental to the scheme. He submitted the revised designs and they were approved in October 1922.[6]

The remaining issues were largely resolved after the city relented to public pressure and opted to site its memorial on a plot of land off Leeman Road, just outside the city walls and for a reduced scheme in the form of a cross due to a shortage of funds. Coincidentally, the land was owned by the railway company and the NER's board donated it to the city in a mark of gratitude for the good relations between the company and the city; the NER had by that time been amalgamated into the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER) as a result of the Railways Act 1921.[1][4]

History and design

The rear of the memorial, seen from the city walls; the NER's headquarters is in the background.

The memorial was finally constructed after Lutyens submitted modified designs to satisfy the Ancient Monuments Board, and was unveiled by Field Marshal Herbert Plumer, 1st Viscount Plumer at a ceremony on 14 June 1924.[1] Among those to give speeches was Edward Grey, 1st Viscount Grey of Fallodon, a member of the NER's board and the foreign secretary famous for his remark "the lamps are going out". Grey spoke of the losses caused by the war: "the old North Eastern board and its general manager numbered some twenty persons. Out of those twenty, four lost sons in the war; three lost only sons. There is no reason to suppose that proportion is exceptional".[6] The city's war memorial was unveiled a year later.[1]

Built from Portland stone, it consists of a 54-foot (16-metre) high obelisk which rises from the rear portion of a three-sided screen wall. The wall creates a recess, sheltering a Stone of Remembrance, which is raised on a stepped podium. The sides of the screen walls terminate with urn-shaped finials and are decorated by laurel swags, with wreaths carved into faces. A similar laurel wreath is carved into the rear wall and the pedestal of the obelisk, above which is carved the North Eastern Railway Company's coat of arms enclosed in another wreath. The centre of the rear wall contains the inscription: "IN REMEMBRANCE OF THOSE MEN OF THE NORTH EASTERN RAILWAY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY THE COMPANY PLACES THIS MONUMENT"; the dates of the First World War are inscribed to either side, and the Stone of Remembrance bears the usual inscription "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE". The 2,236 are inscribed on panels which were originally affixed to the rear wall. Behind the Stone of Remembrance are 15 slates set into the floor of the memorial bearing the names of the LNER's dead from the Second World War.[1] The inscribed names have suffered from exposure to the elements and in lieu of re-carving them, the names were recorded in a book which is held by the National Railway Museum.[1]

The North Eastern Railway War Memorial was designated a grade II* listed building on 10 September 1970.[1] In November 2015, as part of commemorations for the centenary of the First World War, Lutyens' war memorials were recognised as a "national collection" and all of his free-standing memorials in England were listed or had their listing status reviewed and their National Heritage List for England list entries were updated and expanded. As part of this process, the York City memorial was upgraded to grade II* to match the NER's memorial.[7]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to North Eastern Railway War Memorial, York.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Historic England. "North Eastern Railway Company War Memorial (1256553)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  2. ↑ Skelton, p. 59.
  3. 1 2 3 Skelton, p. 60.
  4. 1 2 Historic England. "York City War Memorial in the War Memorial Garden (1257512)". National Heritage List for England. Retrieved 8 February 2016.
  5. ↑ Skelton, pp. 59–60.
  6. 1 2 Skelton, p. 61.
  7. ↑ "National Collection of Lutyens’ War Memorials Listed". Historic England. 7 November 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
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