I thought in this year of WW1 remembrance we should not forget the brave souls that lost their life in service to the country.
The following is an extract from Ayscoughfee and its History dated 1923.
At the further end of the lake stands the Spalding War Memorial, erected, in 1921-2, from plans by Sir Edwin Lutyens, the distinguished architect, who designed the Cenotaph in Whitehall and the memorials in the British War Cemeteries in France and Flanders.
The idea of the memorial originated with the Hon. Mrs Francis McLaren, to commemorate all those connected with the town who had fallen in the war, and included in that long list of 250 names is that of her late husband, the Hon. Francis McLaren, who, at the time of his tragic death while flying off the Scottish coast, sat as Member of Parliament for the Spalding Division.
The designs, as originally drawn, were for a memorial in the form of a cloister garden, and on the scale first contemplated would have cost over £8, 000, but the subscriptions available did not permit of the expenditure of this amount. Modified plans were then presented on a smaller scale, which, while reducing the estimated cost to between £3, 000 and £4, 000, still retained the distinctive features of the original design.
The memorial. was completed in June, 1922, and is as shown in our illustration. The lake at Ayscoughfee, as suggested by Sir Edwin Lutyens, after a personal inspection of the gardens, has been utilised as a foreground. Stone steps lead up from the far end of the lake on to a grassy plateau, from which rises in impressive grandeur the great monolith of Portland stone, weighing about eight tons. The stone is four feet eight inches high, resting on a large bed of solid concrete, and round it three steps of a rather unique pattern, being cut to curvature, and shaped to a ball radius of 900 feet, which gives them a surface comparable with the outside face of a ball. On the great war stone are inscribed the words
“Their name liveth for evermore.”
Beyond is the Temple of Remembrance, constructed of Bath Stone and brick, covered with plaster to correspond. Its facade consists of three arches, divided by two columns, and there is an arch at either side also. Above the three panels in the interior of the Temple is the inscription
“ Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and let light perpetual shine upon them. “
The centre panel bears the words
” In love and honour of these who gave their lives for their country in the years of war, 1914-1918, this memorial is raised in their home by the men and women of Spalding. “
On either side of the centre panel hang flags carved in stone and painted in natural colours, the Union Jack being on the left and the White Ensign on the right. The flags are very realistic, and from the distance they appear semi-furled flags in silk. The other panels on either side contain the names of the 250 Spaldonians who fell in the war.
The dedication and unveiling of the Memorial took place on Thursday, June 8th, 1922. General Sir Ian Hamilton unveiled the Great War Stone, which was dedicated by the Assistant Chaplain-General, the Rev. A.C. Jarvis, of York. Lieutenant – Colonel Barrell, of Spalding, read over the names of the town’s fallen, who numbered 250, and the list of which we give in the following. The Memorial was erected by Messrs. Hodson, Ltd., of Nottingham and London the contract price being £3,400.
The townspeople subscribed £1, 400 towards the Ayscoughfee Memorial, the Hon. Mrs Francis McLaren and Lord Aberconway each contributed £1, 000, and Sir Herbert and Lady Jekyll £ 100, while the Hon. H. D. McLaren donated the two flags carved in stone. The secretary to the Memorial Committee was Mr A. L. Seymour, and the treasurer the late Mr W. B. Crampton.
A. M. LOVE
A. LOWDEN
