Port Sunlight War Memorial
The Port Sunlight War Memorial stands in a central position in the
History
Port Sunlight is the site of a soap factory founded by William Lever (1851–1925), later 1st Viscount Leverhulme, who also created a model village for his workers. During the First World War Lever was chairman of the Empire War Memorial League, and was anxious to have a war memorial in Port Sunlight. He was concerned that at the end of the war the best sculptors would have been engaged to work on war memorials, and as early as 1916 he commissioned Goscombe John to design a memorial for the village. Lever had been concerned that England would be invaded and at the start of the First World War, although he was then aged 63, he joined the Birkenhead and District
Goscombe John exhibited some sketches and models for the memorial's figures at the 1919 and 1920 exhibitions of the
Description
The memorial stands in the most prominent position in the centre of the village, at the intersection of its broadest avenues, The Causeway and The Diamond.
The figures on the plinth depict three soldiers, one of whom is wounded and is being attended by a nurse; a seated woman cradling a group of infants; a girl with her brother; and a Boy Scout. These figures are all larger than life size.[4] The reliefs on the parapet depict respectively the Naval, the Military, the Anti-Aircraft and the Red Cross Services.[6]
On the front of the plinth are two inscriptions. The one at the top reads:[4]
- THE MEMORIAL
- ERECTED BY LEVER BROTHERS LIMITED
- AND THE COMPANY'S EMPLOYEES IN ALL
- PARTS OF THE BRITISH EMPIRE AND IN
- ALLIED COUNTRIES WAS UNVEILED ON
- DECEMBER 3RD 1921 BY
- SERGEANT E.G. EAMES OF PORT SUNLIGHT
- WHO LOST HIS SIGHT AT THE FIRST BATTLE
- OF THE SOMME IN FRANCE 1916 AND BY
- PRIVATE R.E. CRUISHANK OF THE LONDON
- BRANCH OFFICE WHO WAS AWARDED THE
- VICTORIA CROSS IN 1918 FOR CONSPICUOUS
- BRAVERY AND DEVOTION TO DUTY IN PALESTINE.
and at the bottom the inscription reads:[4]
- THE NAMES OF ALL THOSE WHO SERVED NUMBERING OVER FOUR
- THOUSAND ARE RECORDED IN A BOOK DEPOSITED BENEATH
- THIS STONE AND ALSO IN SIMILAR BOOKS PLACED IN
- CHRIST CHURCH AND IN THE LADY LEVER ART GALLERY.
On the back of the plinth, at the top is the inscription:[4]
- THESE ARE NOT DEAD
- SUCH SPIRITS NEVER DIE.
- ON THE ADJOINING PANELS ARE INSCRIBED
- THE NAMES OF THOSE
- FROM THE OFFICES AND WORKS OF
- LEVER BROTHERS LIMITED
- AND THEIR ASSOCIATED COMPANIES OVERSEAS
- AND ALSO FROM PORT SUNLIGHT
- WHO LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WAR
- 1914-1919.
and on the lower part of the plinth are the dates 1939–1945.[4]
Around the outside of the parapet is carved the following:[4]
and on the back of each of the four seats is inscribed "TO OUR GLORIOUS DEAD".[4]
On all the other sides of the plinth are the names of those who were lost in both world wars.[4]
Appraisal
The memorial was designated as a Grade II listed building on 20 December 1965. The designation was raised to Grade I on 28 October 2014.
See also
- Grade I listed buildings in Merseyside
- Grade I listed war memorials in England
- Listed buildings in Port Sunlight
Notes
References
Citations
- ^ a b Morris & Roberts (2012), pp. 153–160
- ^ Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 155
- ^ a b Hartwell et al. (2011), p. 537
- ^ a b c d e f g h i National Recording Project
- ^ Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 153
- ^ Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 154
- ^ Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 255
- ^ a b Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 159
- ^ Historic England & 1343491
- ^ Historic England
- ^ Morris & Roberts (2012), p. 157
- ^ Pevsner & Hubbard (2003), p. 309
Sources
- Hartwell, Clare; Hyde, Matthew; ISBN 978-0-300-17043-6
- Morris, Edward; Roberts, Emma (2012), Public Sculpture of Cheshire and Merseyside (excluding Liverpool), Public Sculpture of Britain, vol. 15, Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, ISBN 978-1-84631-492-6
- Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hubbard, Edward (2003) [1971], Cheshire, The Buildings of England, New Haven and London: ISBN 0-300-09588-0
- Historic England, "War Memorial at junction with The Causeway, Port Sunlight (1343491)", National Heritage List for England, retrieved 30 October 2014
- Historic England, Listed Buildings, retrieved 4 April 2015
- National Recording Project, War Memorial (The Defence of the Home), archived from the original on 1 February 2014, retrieved 24 January 2014