Slough Town War Memorial in Churchyard of St Mary's Church, Central, Slough

Description

236/0/10032 CHURCH STREET
15-SEP-10 Slough Town War Memorial in churchyard
of St Mary's Church

GV II
Town War Memorial cross, 1921 to commemorate The Fallen of Slough in the First World War. Names of the town's Second World War dead were added later.

MATERIALS: Rutland stone with Portland stone plaques.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial takes the form of a memorial cross rising from a square plinth/die on a stepped base which is in turn supported on a 12-sided drum pedestal on a circular plinth. The column is faceted and elegantly tapers as it rises to a medieval style Greek Pattern Cross with a chi-rho, alpha, omega and 'S' for 'Salvator' or 'saviour' carved on its west and east faces.

The memorial inscriptions are carved in undercut lettering. The inscription on the circular base is in serif capitals, in relief and reads in an anti-clockwise direction from the west: THERE IS BUT ONE TASK FOR ALL -/ ONE LIFE FOR EACH TO GIVE/ WHO STANDS IF FREEDOM FALL?/ WHO DIE IF ENGLAND LIVE? The plinth/die is inscribed in Gothic upper and lower case in relief and reads: [west elevation] Slough/ Town Memorial/ to the honour of / ALMIGHTY GOD/ and in the memory of the men/ who gave their lives/ in the Great War; [south elevation] Translated from the/ Warfare of the world/ into the peace of God; [east elevation] Upon the base/ of this memorial are/ inscribed the names of/ men from Slough/ who fell in the Great/ War 1914-1918 +; [north elevation] Faithful unto death their name liveth for evermore. An additional dedication was added to the west face of the plinth/die to commemorate The Fallen of the Second World War and reads: AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF THOSE FROM/ THIS TOWN WHO HAVE SINCE GIVEN THEIR LIVES IN THE CAUSE OF PEACE. The remaining inscriptions are on twelve Portland stone panels forming the drum pedestal and list the names of the war dead in the form of first name, middle initial(s) and surname. Three hundred and sixteen names are inscribed. The roll is quite unusual as it includes, on the second panel, a woman: Nurse Vera L Carter, whose funeral is reported in the Slough Observer on 20 July 1918.

HISTORY: Slough Town War Memorial was erected in 1921 as a memorial to the men of the town who were killed in the Great War. Planning for a memorial had begun in early 1919 and was funded by public subscription.

The memorial was designed by the architect and artist Alfred Y Nutt. The chosen design, approved in early 1921, was his second, the first having been rejected on the grounds of cost. His design drawings are curated by the Windsor & Royal Borough Museum. Alfred Nutt (1847-1924) was born and educated in Leicestershire. After training to be an architect he entered the Office of Works at Windsor Castle and subsequently held the position of Surveyor to the Dean and Canons of Windsor. Much of this work involved routine maintenance of St George's Chapel. In 1901 he became Clerk of Works of Windsor Castle also holding the post of Chapel Surveyor until his retirement in 1912. On retirement he and his family moved from Windsor to a house called 'Morcott West', Sussex Place, Slough which presumably led to his involvement with the town's war memorial. The stonemason for the memorial was E Sargeant of Slough who also worked on the Chalvey War Memorial.

The memorial was unveiled by Colonel Robert Carrington and dedicated by the Bishop of Buckingham, the Right Reverend PH Eliot at a ceremony on 28 September 1921. Additional names of The Fallen of the Second World War were later added on stone paving slabs laid around the base of the memorial with a further dedicatory inscription added to the west face of the memorial.

A second memorial to The Fallen of the First and Second World Wars, dedicated by the Bishop of Buckingham in 1950, can be found in the west porch of St Mary's church.

SOURCES: United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials at http://www.ukniwm.org.uk/server/show/conMemorial.7847/fromUkniwmSearch/1 [accessed 25 May 2010]
Chapel Archives & Chapter Library of the College of St George, Windsor at
http://www.stgeorges-windsor.org/archives/archive-features/image-of-the-month/title1/A.Y.-Nutt-Chapter-Surveyor.html [accessed 18 June 2010]
Slough, Eton & Windsor Express, 5 April 1919
Slough, Eton & Windsor Observer, 20 July 1918, 25 December 1920; 24 September 1921, 1 October 1921

REASON FOR DESIGNATION: Slough Town War Memorial to The Fallen of the First World War, later altered to commemorate the war dead of the Second World War, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Artistic: a large and attractive memorial surmounted by a slender and elegant cross, with a striking drum name-wall listing over 300 of the fallen.
* Historic: of cultural and historical special interest as a memorial which honours the many war dead of the parish from the First and Second World Wars; an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this community;
* Group Value: with St Mary's Church, a Grade II* Decorated Gothic style parish church of 1876-8: the memorial stands in a prominent position by the main west door.

Reasons for Listing

The Slough Town War Memorial to the war dead of the town from the First and Second World Wars is designated at Grade II for the following principal reasons:
* Artistic: a large and attractive memorial surmounted by a slender and elegant cross, with a striking drum name-wall listing over 300 of the fallen.
* Historic: of cultural and historical special interest as a memorial which honours the many war dead of the parish from the First and Second World Wars; an eloquent witness to the tragic impact of world events on this community;
* Group Value: with St Mary's Church, a Grade II* Decorated Gothic style parish church of 1876-8: the memorial stands in a prominent position by the main west door.

External Links

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