Rochdale Cenotaph

Rochdale Cenotaph
United Kingdom
For Servicemen from Rochdale killed in the First World War
Unveiled 1922
Location 53°36′58″N 2°09′35″W / 53.616238°N 2.159743°W / 53.616238; -2.159743Coordinates: 53°36′58″N 2°09′35″W / 53.616238°N 2.159743°W / 53.616238; -2.159743
Rochdale town centre, Greater Manchester, England
Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens
TO THE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / ROCHDALE / WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR / THEY WERE A WALL / UNTO US BOTH BY / NIGHT AND BY DAY
Listed Building – Grade I
Official name Rochdale Cenotaph
Designated 12 February 1985
Reference no. 1084274

Rochdale Cenotaph is a war memorial in central Rochdale, located in the Memorial Gardens to the northwest of the Espanade that now runs in front of Rochdale Town Hall. It was designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1922, one of eight cenotaphs (empty tombs) constructed to his designs after the First World War, including The Cenotaph in Whitehall. Others include Southampton Cenotaph, Manchester Cenotaph, the Midland Railway War Memorial in Derby, and Norwich Cenotaph. The Rochdale Cenotaph became a listed building in February 1985, and was upgraded to a Grade I listing in October 2015.

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 forms part of several of his civic memorials, including Rochdale's. Rochdale is one of eight cenotaphs by Lutyens in England, the earliest being Southampton's; it was among the most ambitious of his designs to come to fruition.[1]

The mayor of Rochdale called a public meeting on 10 February 1919, almost three months to the day since the armistice, to discuss proposals to commemorate the town's war dead. The consensus was that the town should have a physical monument as well as a fund to provide for wounded servicemen, their families, and the families of the 2,000 war dead from Rochdale. Public subscription raised £29,443 10s, easily covering the £12,611 cost of the memorial.[1][2][3]

Lutyens was appointed as the architect. He first proposed a war memorial bridge to cross the River Roch in front of the Rochdale Town Hall (the river at the time flowed openly through the town centre but has since been culverted). On either side of the bridge would be a recumbent effigy of a soldier lying on a bier, with a Stone of Remembrance on the bridge itself. This plan was abandoned after Alderman William Cunliffe, a former mayor of Rochdale, bought the dilapidated 18th century manor house building on the other side of the river, known as the Manor House or the Orchard. Cunliffe donated the site for use for a war memorial, which had particular poignancy as the building had been used as a recruiting station during the war. Lutyens created a new design which involved the demolition of Manor House to be replaced by a cenotaph and a Stone of Remembrance. The memorial was constructed by Hobson Limited of Nottingham.[1][3]

History and design

The Rochdale war memorial comprises two main elements, a 10-metre (33 ft) high cenotaph beside a Stone of Remembrance, which are both raised on a platform or stylobate of three steps, all made of light grey Cornish granite.[1] The base of the cenotaph is raised by a further six steps above the platform, and then rises in diminishing tiers of broadly rectangular cross section, with their long axis oriented from southeast to northwest. Standing on the plain first tier are four carved and painted flags with gilt bronze poles, two to either side: the Union Flag and the White Ensign on the southwest side, and the RAF Ensign and the Red Ensign on the northeast side. The flags stand to either side of a second smaller tier with a semi-column at either end, which culminates in a yet smaller plinth supporting a catafalque on which lies a sculpture of a draped human figure, a similar design to Lutyens' Midland Railway War Memorial in Derby. To either side of the plinth, above the flags, are carved wreaths surrounding the arms of Rochdale. The semi-pillars and longer sides of the middle tier bears gilded inscriptions: "1914-1919/ 1939–1945"; "TO THE MEMORY / OF THE MEN OF / ROCHDALE / WHO / GAVE THEIR LIVES / IN THE GREAT WAR"; "MCMXIV / + / MCMXIX / ET / MCMXXXIX / + / MCMXLV" and "THEY WERE A WALL / UNTO US BOTH BY / NIGHT AND BY DAY" (a quotation from the First Book of Samuel, chapter 25, verse 16, selected from several suggestions made by the readers of the Rochdale Observer). The Stone of Remembrance lies to the southeast of the cenotaph, towards the town hall, and is also raised above the platform by three further steps. It is inscribed: "THEIR NAME LIVETH / FOR EVERMORE". Further inscriptions commemorating the Second World War were added at a later date, including a bronze plaque reading "TO ALL THOSE WHO DIED / IN THE / SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY". It was restored in 2000.[1][4]

The war memorial comprises a cenotaph beside a Stone of Remembrance

The cenotaph was unveiled by the Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby on Sunday 26 November 1922. It was dedicated by the Archdeacon of Rochdale.[1] The earl was a descendant of a local family which had been involved in politics in the local area for generations, and he himself served in various public offices during the First World War, including Director General of Recruiting and later Secretary of Sate for War before being appointed Britain's ambassador to France at the end of the war. Two years after unveiling the memorial in Rochdale, Derby presided over the initiation ceremony for Manchester Cenotaph, another Lutyens design.[3]

The cenotaph was designated a Grade II listed building on 12 February 1985. The surrounding memorial gardens are dedicated to the members of the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers. Nearby are also the Grade I listed Rochdale Town Hall, and the Grade II listed Rochdale Post Office and Grade II listed lamp posts.[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, Rochdale Cenotaph was upgraded to Grade I listed building status.[5]

See also

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rochdale War Memorial.

References

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