Manchester's Memorials

It was not until 1922 that plans to provide a city war memorial for Manchester moved forward. The Manchester branch of the British Legion initiated the project. Ernest Simon, the serving Lord Mayor, established a war memorial committee with representatives from different military associations, the business community and the council.

A subscription was opened and quickly raised some £10,000, the maximum sum it had been agreed to spend on a monument. In a city where unemployment was increasing, prospective subscribers were informed that work associated with the memorial would benefit local firms. Controversy, however, soon engulfed the memorial scheme. Identifying 'the best available site' for the memorial proved problematic.

Initially, the war memorial committee considered three possible sites: Albert Square, Piccadilly and St Peter's Square. The favoured site was Albert Square, the city's principal civic space, where it was proposed to remove all of the existing statuary, including the Albert Memorial, so that the new memorial would stand alone, a powerful expression of the community's loss. The committee moved quickly, approaching the King, who indicated that he had no objection to the removal of his German grandfather's memorial from the square. The Albert Square site was also strongly favoured by the British Legion. But, perhaps anticipating opposition to this location, the committee also considered St Peter's Square as an alternative site; the Lord Mayor stating that they had also obtained the consent of the Bishop of Manchester and the trustees of St Peter's for the removal of the cross. The articles and letters which appeared in the local newspapers following the announcement of Albert Square as the unanimous recommendation of the war memorial committee suggested that many Mancunians did not share the committee's view, especially when it would involve the removal of all the statues.

Manchester Cenotaph

The Manchester Art Federation, which included the Manchester Society of Architects and Manchester School of Art, led the protests. Opposition also came from the Royal Manchester Institution which argued that the proposed removal of the statues represented a breaking of the 'sacred trust' with those who had provided them.

The Manchester sculptor, John Cassidy, also doubted whether Albert Square was the best available site. When the city council came to debate the issue, the arguments against moving the statues had been well rehearsed and it was the Piccadilly site that emerged - by a vote of 71 to 30 - as the favoured location. The proposal that only the Albert Memorial would be removed to make way for the war memorial was also defeated. Placing the memorial in Piccadilly - in the open space created by the demolition of the Infirmary - found particular support from members of the Art Gallery Committee who envisaged the memorial standing in front of' the art gallery that the city council intended to build there.

But uncertainties still surrounded the plans for Piccadilly, and, in May 1923, the war memorial committee anxious to see the memorial scheme move forward, agreed to site it in St Peter's Square. It was understood that in order to make the necessary space for the war memorial that Temple Moore's memorial cross would be removed from the square. But the suitability of the St Peter's Square site, selected, as one correspondent to the Manchester Guardian put it, 'more or less casually by a number of laymen, acting in a spirit of compromise', continued to be questioned. One of the concerns remained that although St Peter's Square was a central location it was very close to the city's theatre and cinema district. The selection of the design of the memorial also proved contentious. The importance of organising an open competition for such an important memorial had been emphasised by the Manchester Art Federation and the Royal Society of British Sculptors during the discussions over the site. The war memorial committee appeared to agree, appointing the Manchester architect, Percy Worthington, as the assessor. However, controversy erupted when it was announced that the committee was unwilling to leave the decision entirely to Worthington, reserving the right to overturn his selection. The announcement of this decision prompted an understandable reaction from architects and their professional association. The decision was debated in the local press, correspondents expressing their surprise and bewilderment over the committee's apparent arbitrary and arrogant stance. The Manchester Guardian turned to Charles Reilly, Professor of Architecture at Liverpool University, to explain the principles at issue to its readers.

Paul Waterhouse, the son of Alfred Waterhouse, who had recently served as President of the Royal Institute of British Architects, regretted the deadlock whilst suggesting that he knew much more about the committee's internal conflict but would not betray confidences. The Lord Mayor, William Cundiff, was equally diplomatic, referring to 'certain insuperable difficulties' within the committee whilst confirming that it was to go ahead and select its own designer.

A sub committee was appointed and instructed to approach an architect 'who can be trusted to prepare a suitable design.' That architect was Sir Edwin Lutyens. Lutyen's design was a cenotaph, and as with the majority of those he produced for other provincial towns (including Rochdale), the essential elements of the London cenotaph could be recognised. It was a simple, well proportioned undenominational shrine in Portland stone, with a central pylon surmounted by the Unknown Soldier.The elegance and restraint of the lettering was a noteworthy feature of the design. It represented 'the triumphant end of the war as well as the sadness and sorrow it entailed.' But not all those who studied the proposed design felt that it was an entirely appropriate monument. Some reacted to its modernity; others even doubted the validity of any formal memorial.

One correspondent writing to The Builder argued for a simple open space. 'Surely the creation of some fine square or some much- needed street widening would be a more fitting memorial of the recent war than any monolith, which, after all, can never convey the magnitude of the debt the city owes to its brave dead. The dedication of the Old Infirmary site to be a permanent open square would be an admirable thing, and in the future it will be of greater value as an open space than it can ever be if built upon.'

But after these extraordinary debates and arguments the project finally went ahead. By the early summer of 1924 Manchester's cenotaph was nearing completion. The intention to provide work for local men appears not to have been realised as Lutyens used the London-based Nine Elms Stone Masonry Works to erect the memorial. In all, it cost £6,490, the residual funds being used to provide beds in local hospitals for the families of servicemen.

The unveiling ceremony in July 1924 was an occasion of dignified remembrance. No part of the ceremony was more significant than the unveiling itself which was carried out by the Earl of Derby and Mrs Bingle - 'a citizen of the working-class district of Ancoats ' - whose three sons had died in the war. The memorial was dedicated by Rev J. G. McCormick, the Dean of Manchester. Manchester's cenotaph was generally welcomed. Henry Cadness, a Manchester artist, acknowledged its simple beauty and dignity, providing 'an environment of consolation which will be ever sacred for all.' But it could not have gone unnoticed in the packed square that some people's view of the ceremony was obscured by the presence of Temple Moore's cross.

Negotiations to remove it recommenced after the ceremony but the trustees were reluctant to do so. The issue was a delicate one and after some further discussion Lutyens effectively closed the matter by stating that because of the 'susceptibilities of the donors ' he did not object to the cross remaining. But however appropriate Lutyens' cenotaph was, there still remained uneasiness about the suitability of the site, an uneasiness evident in 1925 when renewed discussions about the city art gallery were broadened to include the question of moving the cenotaph to Piccadilly. But no action was taken and the cenotaph was to remain in St Peter's Square.

Manchester Cenotaph

Side View

The Manchester International Brigade

Many men from Manchester joined the fight against General Franco and the fascists in Spain during the Spanish Civil war 1936 - 1939. Below are two tributes to these men who fought against the Fascists before the Second World War. Both memorials are in Manchester Town Hall.

The International Brigade

Other Manchester Memorials include the Manchester Victoria Station Memorial.

The memorial is headed:
This tablet is erected to perpetuate the memory of the men of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway whose names are here recorded and who gave their lives in the Great War 1914 - 1919

And concludes:

THEIR GLORY SHALL NOT BE BLOTTED OUT AND THEIR NAME LIVETH TO ALL

GENERATIONS. Ecclesiasticus XLIV, verses:13:14.

St. Anne's Square in Manchester has Regimental South African War Memorial. The work of William Hamo Thorneycroft (1850 - 1925), it represents a soldier of the Manchester Regiment standing with bayonet fixed at the "ready" while a wounded comrade at his feet hands him a cartridge to continue the fight. The plinth represents a large rough rock, on the front face is a wreath of bay leaves. There are bronze plaques on all sides of the pedestal, three of which record the names of those who gave their lives in the War: 8 officers and 309 non-commissioned officers and men.

The Name of 2 Gelders are on this memorial. Both are related to Steve.

The inscription which runs around the four sides of the of the pedestal at the top reads:

To the memory of the following officers non-commisd officers and men who fell in the war in South Africa 1899-1902 gallantly serving their sovereign & country.

On the front at base is inscribed:

This monument is erected by public subscription.

A Memorial Committee was formed in the City of Manchester during 1902 to raise the necessary funds. On 26 October 1908 the memorial was dedicated by the Bishop of Manchester and unveiled by General Sir Ian Hamilton. The 2nd Battalion provided a Guard of Honour.

The memorial raised to the men of the Manchester Regiment, both regular army soldiers and volunteers from the Volunteer Battalions who died in the South African War was Manchester's first major outdoor war memorial. Calls for a memorial were made during the war itself following reports of the heroic actions of the Manchester Regiment, but it was felt that such an act would be premature. Towards the end of 1902 the regiment began to consider schemes to memorialise their fallen comrades. Proposals included an outdoor war memorial, a tablet in Manchester Cathedral and, more ambitiously, a soldiers' club.

The idea of the outdoor war memorial and a smaller memorial in the Cathedral was accepted. The initial proceedings of Manchester's Soldiers' War Memorial Fund were uncontroversial as the committee set about raising £2,000, the sum that had been set as necessary to realise the project. By January 1904 over £1,900 had been subscribed and discussions turned to the question of selecting the sculptor. A limited competition appeared to be the way forward and the Executive Committee recommended that six sculptors - Frampton, William Hamo Thornycroft, Henry Pegram, Alfred Drury, Frederick Pomeroy and John Cassidy should be invited to submit designs. This recommendation was not accepted by the General Committee, which decided to appoint Thornycroft.

St Anne's Square

Note the last name of Gelder

The decision upset many subscribers who felt that there should have been an open competition: 'the narrowest and worst form of Protection, unworthy of a broad-minded, progressive, Free Trade city like Manchester.' More particularly, there was a group of subscribers keen that the memorial should be awarded to the Manchester sculptor, John Cassidy. They used the press to draw attention to the committee's decision, clearly unhappy at what they regarded as the dishonourable behaviour of Thornycroft supporters on the committee.

A special private meeting of the committee was called by the Lord Mayor to examine the case but in the end the decision stood. Thornycroft was to be the sculptor though in what was to be another area of dissatisfaction among committee members, it was announced that because of his other commissions, he would not be able to complete the memorial for two and a half years. His supporters, however, did not forget Cassidy, and he was commissioned privately to produce a war memorial.

When Thornycroft eventually began work on the memorial he produced a composition based on an incident during one of the regiment's most celebrated engagements, the fighting at Caesar’s Camp, Ladysmith. Entitled 'Comrades', it depicted two life-size figures, one soldier standing over a wounded colleague who is offering a cartridge to continue the fight. Two soldiers from the regiment were used as the models; one of whom was Captain Edmund Nelson Fisher, whose family was later presented with a bust based on the statue.

The location of the memorial was still undecided in 1907 when the memorial committee approached the Corporation's Town Hall Committee to discuss the possibility of siting it in Albert Square, particularly as the removal of the jubilee fountain was being contemplated. It was suggested that either the war memorial might be placed on the site of the fountain or, if that was not suitable, then the Bishop Fraser statue could be moved there, allowing the war memorial to be located on the edge of the square. However the Town Hall Committee ruled out Albert Square.

Further discussions followed before the council and the committee agreed on St Ann's Square. Local shopkeepers campaigning to improve the square welcomed the idea of the memorial. Thornycroft had been right to make it clear that the memorial could not be completed quickly. The memorial was not to be finally completed until 1908. It was cast at Singer's foundry at Frome. As the long awaited inauguration was finally being arranged - Salford's memorial had been unveiled three years before - a further appeal for funds to reduce the outstanding deficit of £350. Manchester's principal South African War memorial was unveiled in October 1908, almost six years since the start of the discussions to raise a memorial. General Sir Ian Hamilton recalled the heroic deeds of the Manchester Regiment in South Africa including their battle at Elandslaagte before he removed the Union Jack covering the memorial.

Thornycroft's depiction of the dramatic episode in the war found widespread approval, a sculpture that could be regarded as an important addition to the city's collection of public monuments. In the words of the Manchester Guardian, it was a work that was 'dignified, impressive and rich with virile beauty.’ But had journalists made a closer study of the sculpture particularly the names identified on the list they would have discovered that not all those in the war were recorded.

The war memorial became a place of remembrance for the regiment on Elandslaagte Day (October 21) and later on Remembrance Day. Throughout the more recent changes made to the layout of St Ann's Square, the memorial has remained in its original position, the granite protectors at the corners of the pedestal a reminder of a time when wheeled traffic filled the square.