City War Memorial, Nottingham
City War Memorial, Nottingham | |
---|---|
United Kingdom | |
For Men of Nottingham who died in the First and Second World Wars. | |
Unveiled | 11 November 1927[1] |
Location | 52°56′04″N 1°08′27″W / 52.934492°N 1.140752°W |
Designed by | Thomas Wallis Gordon |
The City War Memorial, Nottingham, also known as the Nottingham Municipal War Memorial and the City of Nottingham War Memorial, is the main war memorial for the city of
Background
The
A public appeal sought £100,000 for
The memorial was designed by Thomas Wallis Gordon, Nottingham City Engineer and Surveyor for Nottingham Corporation from 1896 until 1935.
Description
The main structure is a
The central archway is about 8 m (26 ft) high and 5 m (16 ft) wide, with the city's coat of arms worked into the metalwork lunette above the gates. The smaller side arches are about 6 m (20 ft) high and 2.5 m (8.2 ft) wide. Carved into the stone above the side arches are the dates "1914-1918" (left) and "1939-1945" (right). The frieze above the central arch is inscribed with the Latin motto from the City's coat of arms, "VIVIT POST FUNERA VIRTUS", which may be loosely translated as "virtue outlives death", above which there is a carving of the city's coat of arms on the parapet. The interior walls of the archway have bronze plaques with inscriptions, including one inscribed with the words of tribute that the French
The arch is flanked to either side by curved stone colonnades of three bays, about 6 m (20 ft) high and 26 m (85 ft) long, with a frieze, cornice and low parapet, with wrought iron railings between the stone columns. The walls on either side extend the overall length to over 70 m (230 ft). As originally built, steps aligned with the central arch led down to the west bank of the River Trent, but the steps were moved after the Second World War. The central arch is still aligned with an ornamental pond in the memorial gardens to the west.
History
The memorial was installed on the east side of a new Memorial Garden (now also grade II listed) to the south of the Meadows, on Victoria Embankment beside the River Trent, facing towards West Bridgford on the opposite bank. The foundation stone was laid by Edward, Prince of Wales (later Edward VIII), on 1 August 1923. After delays attributed to the extensive groundworks, the memorial was unveiled by Edmund Huntsman, Mayor of Nottingham, on 11 November 1927. The service of dedication was carried out by James Gordon, then Vicar of St Mary's Church, Nottingham. The ceremony was attended by a crowd of several thousand people with a parade by the Robin Hood Battalion (7th Battalion, Sherwood Foresters).
The memorial was later adapted to commemorate those people who died in the
Great War Memorial
A new Great War Memorial was unveiled nearby in 2019 by the
See also
- Listed buildings in West Bridgford
- Arch of Remembrance, another war memorial arch in the nearby city of Leicester
Notes
References
- Nottingham Municipal War Memorial, National Heritage List for England, Historic England
- City of Nottingham War Memorial, War Memorials Online
- Nottingham memorial, War Memorials Register, Imperial War Museums
- The Great War memorial, Unveiling event, Nottinghamshire County Council
- Duke of Kent officially opens stunning First World War memorial at Victoria Embankment", Nottingham Post, 28 June 2019
- WWI War Memorial, Victoria Embankment, Nottingham, Bonsers Restoration
- Great War Memorial, Nottingham, Albion Stone