This is a featured article. Click here for more information.

Rochdale Cenotaph
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Rochdale Cenotaph
United Kingdom
Rochdale War Memorial (4).JPG
For servicemen from Rochdale killed in the First World War
Unveiled 1922; 96 years ago
Location 53.616238�N 2.159743�WCoordinates: 53.616238�N 2.159743�W
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 First World War memorial on the Esplanade in Rochdale,
Greater Manchester, in the northwest of England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it
is one of seven memorials in England based on his Cenotaph on Whitehall in London,
and one of his more ambitious designs. The memorial was unveiled in 1922 and
consists of a 10-metre (33 ft) pylon, topped by an effigy of a recumbent soldier,
and Lutyens' characteristic Stone of Remembrance.

A public meeting in February 1919 established a consensus to create a monument and

a fund for the families of wounded servicemen. The meeting agreed to commission
Lutyens to design the monument. His design for a bridge over the River Roch was
abandoned after a local dignitary purchased a plot of land adjacent to Rochdale
Town Hall and donated it for the site of the memorial. Lutyens revised his design
and Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, unveiled the memorial on 26 November 1922.
It is a Grade I listed structure, having been upgraded in 2015 when Lutyens' war
memorials were declared a national collection.

Contents [hide]
1 Background
2 Commissioning
3 Design
4 History
5 See also
6 References
Background[edit]
In the aftermath of the First World War and its unprecedented casualties, thousands
of war memorials were built across Britain. Almost all towns and cities erected
some form of memorial to commemorate their fallen. The mayor of Rochdale called a
public meeting on 10 February 1919, three months after the armistice, to discuss
proposals for the town's commemorations. Consensus was that the town should have a
physical monument and 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, covering the �12,611 cost of the memorial.[1][2]

Commissioning[edit]
The public meeting in February 1919 agreed to appoint Sir Edwin Lutyens as
architect for the project. He was one of the most prominent designers of war
memorials in Britain, described by Historic England as "the leading English
architect of his generation".[1] Before the war, Lutyens established a reputation
designing country houses for wealthy patrons, but the war had a profound effect on
him. From 1917 onwards, he dedicated much of his time to memorialising the
casualties. He went on to design the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London, which became
the focus for the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations and subsequently the
Thiepval Memorial to the Missing on the Somme in France and many other memorials in
Britain and the Commonwealth.[1][3][4][5]

Lutyens proposed a memorial bridge crossing the River Roch in front of Rochdale
Town Hall. At that time the river flowed openly through the town centre but has
since been culverted. On either side of the bridge would have been recumbent
effigies of a soldier lying on a bier and a Stone of Remembrance on the bridge. The
plan was abandoned when Alderman William Cunliffe, a former mayor, bought a
dilapidated 18th-century house (known as "the Manor House" or "the Orchard") on the
opposite side of the river and donated the site for the war memorial. The site had
particular poignancy as the building had been used as a recruiting station during
the war. Lutyens' new design involved demolishing the Manor House to make way for a
cenotaph and a Stone of Remembrance. Lutyens designed the stone for use in Imperial
War Graves Commission cemeteries but it also features in several of his war
memorials. Rochdale's cenotaph is among seven others by Lutyens in England based on
the one in Whitehall, and is among the most ambitious of his designs to come to
fruition.[1][2]

Design[edit]

The war memorial comprises a cenotaph beside a Stone of Remembrance

The memorial was constructed by Hobson Limited of Nottingham. While many First
World War memorials feature sculpture or overt religious symbolism, Rochdale's,
like many of Lutyens' memorials, uses abstract and ecumenical shapes inspired by
classical architecture.[6][7] It comprises two elements: a 10-metre (33 ft) pylon
and a Stone of Remembrance formed from light grey Cornish granite which are raised
on a platform (stylobate) of three steps. The cenotaph is raised on six steps on
the platform, and rises in diminishing tiers of broadly rectangular cross section,
with its long axis oriented southeast to northwest. On the plain first tier are
four carved and painted stone flags with gilt bronze poles, two to either side: the
Union Flag and the White Ensign on the southwest side, and the Royal Air Force
Ensign and the Red Ensign on the northeast. The flags flank a second, smaller, tier
which has a semi-column at either end and which culminates in a smaller plinth
supporting a catafalque. At the top is a sculpture of a recumbent soldier draped
with his coat. The design for the pylon is based on Lutyens' Midland Railway War
Memorial, unveiled in Derby in 1921.[1][4][8] Painted stone flags are a recurring
feature in Lutyens' war memorial designs. He first proposed them for Whitehall's
Cenotaph, where they were rejected in favour of fabric flags, but they appear on
several of his other memorials including Northampton War Memorial and Leicester's
Arch of Remembrance.[9]

The memorial is not strictly a cenotaph as the sculpture at the top is a human
figure rather than an empty tomb.[10] By raising the figure above the ground on the
pylon, Lutyens gives him anonymity, representing the fallen while allowing
onlookers to impart their own emotions onto the memorial.[11] To either side of the
plinth, above the flags, carved wreaths surround Rochdale's coat of arms. The
central part of the structure is inscribed in gold lettering: 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 suggestions made by readers of the Rochdale Observer.[1][12]

The Stone of Remembrance lies to the southeast between the cenotaph and the town
hall, raised above the platform by three steps. It is inscribed: THEIR NAME LIVETH
FOR EVERMORE. Other inscriptions commemorating the dead of the Second World War
were added later, including a bronze plaque reading TO ALL THOSE WHO DIED / IN
THE / SERVICE OF THEIR COUNTRY.[1][13][14][15] The use of a cenotaph with a Stone
of Remembrance at its feet is reminiscent of Southampton Cenotaph, Lutyens' first
to come to fruition.[16] The surrounding memorial gardens are dedicated to the
members of the Lancashire Fusiliers and the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers and serve
as Rochdale's memorial to the Second World War.[1][14]

History[edit]

The cenotaph, with the tower of Rochdale Town Hall in the background
Edward Stanley, 17th Earl of Derby, unveiled the memorial on Sunday 26 November
1922 and the Archdeacon of Rochdale gave a dedication.[1] Derby was a descendant of
a Lancashire family involved in local politics for generations. He served in
various public offices during the First World War, including Director General of
Recruiting and Secretary of State for War, before being appointed Britain's
ambassador to France at the end of the war. Two years after unveiling the Rochdale
memorial, Lord Derby presided over the unveiling of Manchester Cenotaph, another
Lutyens design.[2]

Rochdale Cenotaph was designated as a Grade II listed building on 12 February 1985,

the designation noting the cenotaph's visual relationship with Rochdale Town Hall,
Rochdale Post Office, and a set of lamp posts (each of which are listed in their
own right).[1] The status offers legal protection from demolition or modification;
Grade II is applied to structures of "special interest, warranting every effort to
preserve them", about 92 per cent of listed buildings. In November 2015, as part of
commemorations for the centenary of the First World War, Lutyens' war memorials
were recognised as a "national collection". All his free-standing memorials in
England were listed or had their listing status reviewed and National Heritage List
for England entries were updated and expanded. As a result, Rochdale Cenotaph was
upgraded to Grade I, which is applied to around 2.5% of listed buildings, those of
"the greatest historic interest".[17][18]

See also[edit]
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Rochdale War Memorial.
icon Greater Manchester portal
Lancashire Fusiliers War Memorial, another Lutyens war memorial in nearby Bury
Grade I listed buildings in Greater Manchester
Grade I listed war memorials in England
Listed buildings in Rochdale
References[edit]
Bibliography

Amery, Colin; et al. (1981). Lutyens: The Work of the English Architect Sir Edwin
Lutyens. London: Arts Council of Great Britain. ISBN 9780728703032.
Boorman, Derek (1988). At the Going Down of the Sun: British First World War
Memorials. York: Sessions of York. ISBN 9781850720416.
Borg, Alan (1991). War Memorials: From Antiquity to the Present. London: Leo
Cooper. ISBN 9780850523638.
Brown, Jane (1996). Lutyens and the Edwardians. London: Viking Press. ISBN
9780670858712.
King, Alex (1998). Memorials of the Great War In Britain: The Symbolism and
Politics of Remembrance. Oxford: Berg Publishers. ISBN 9781859739884.
Pevsner, Nikolaus; Hyde, Matthew; Hartwell, Clare (2004). The Buildings of England:
Lancashire: Manchester and the South-East. New Haven, Connecticut: Yale University
Press. ISBN 9780300105834.
Ridley, Jane (2003). Edwin Lutyens: His Life, His Wife, His Work (Pimlico ed.).
London: Pimlico. ISBN 9780712668224.
Skelton, Tim; Gliddon, Gerald (2008). Lutyens and the Great War. London: Frances
Lincoln Publishers. ISBN 9780711228788.
Winter, Jay (2014). Sites of Memory, Sites of Mourning: The Great War in European
Cultural History (Canto Classics ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN
9781107661653.
Wyke, Terry; Cocks, Harry (2004). Public Sculpture of Greater Manchester.
Liverpool: Liverpool University Press. ISBN 9780853235675.
Citations

^ Jump up to: a b c d e f g h i j Historic England. "Rochdale Cenotaph (1084274)".

National Heritage List for England (NHLE). Retrieved 3 February 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b c Skelton, p. 63.
Jump up ^ Skelton, pp. 24�25.
^ Jump up to: a b Amery et al., p. 148.
Jump up ^ Stamp, Gavin. "Lutyens, Sir Edwin Landseer (1869�1944), architect".
Oxford Dictionary of National Biography (online ed.). Oxford University Press.
doi:10.1093/ref:odnb/34638. (Subscription or UK public library membership
required.)
Jump up ^ Winter, pp. 102�104.
Jump up ^ Borg, p. 96.
Jump up ^ King, p 150.
Jump up ^ Ridley, p. 311.
Jump up ^ Amery et al., pp. 154�155.
Jump up ^ King, p. 139.
Jump up ^ Boorman, p. 124.
Jump up ^ "Rochdale Cenotaph". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 February 2016.
^ Jump up to: a b Pevsner, p. 597.
Jump up ^ Wyke, pp. 323�324.
Jump up ^ Brown, p. 175.
Jump up ^ "The Listing and Grading of War Memorials". Historic England. July 2015.
p. 2. Retrieved 10 February 2017.
Jump up ^ "National Collection of Lutyens' War Memorials Listed". Historic England.
7 November 2015. Retrieved 1 February 2016.
Categories: British military memorials and cemeteriesBuildings and structures
completed in 1922Buildings and structures in RochdaleGrade I listed buildings in
Greater ManchesterGrade I listed monuments and memorialsMonuments and memorials in
Greater ManchesterOutdoor sculptures in the United KingdomWorks of Edwin
LutyensWorld War I memorials in the United KingdomWorld War II memorials in the
United Kingdom
Navigation menu
Not logged inTalkContributionsCreate accountLog inArticleTalkReadEditView
historySearch

Search Wikipedia
Go
Main page
Contents
Featured content
Current events
Random article
Donate to Wikipedia
Wikipedia store
Interaction
Help
About Wikipedia
Community portal
Recent changes
Contact page
Tools
What links here
Related changes
Upload file
Special pages
Permanent link
Page information
Wikidata item
Cite this page
Print/export
Create a book
Download as PDF
Printable version
In other projects
Wikimedia Commons
Languages
??
Edit links
This page was last edited on 11 January 2018, at 10:05.
Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License;
additional terms may apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and
Privacy Policy. Wikipedia� is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation,
Inc., a non-profit organization.
Privacy policyAbout WikipediaDisclaimersContact WikipediaDevelopersCookie
statementMobile viewEnable previews
Wikimedia Foundation Powered by MediaWiki