Kingston upon Thames War Memorial
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| Kingston upon Thames War Memorial | |
|---|---|
| United Kingdom | |
.jpg) | |
| For men from the town of Kingston upon Thames who died in the First and Second World Wars | |
| Unveiled | 1923 |
| Location | 51°24′37″N 0°18′18″W / 51.4104°N 0.305°W |
| Designed by | Richard Reginald Goulden |
IN HONOUR OF THE MEN OF THIS TOWN WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WARS 1914 – 1919, 1939 – 1945. | |
Listed Building – Grade II* | |
| Official name | Kingston upon Thames War Memorial |
| Designated | 6 October 1983 |
| Reference no. | 1080054 |
Kingston upon Thames War Memorial, in the Memorial Garden on Union Street, Kingston upon Thames, London, commemorates the men of the town who died in the First World War. After 1945, the memorial was updated to recognise casualties from the Second World War. The memorial was commissioned by the town council and was designed by the sculptor Richard Reginald Goulden. It depicts a naked warrior carrying a flaming cross and wielding a sword, with which he defends two children from a serpent. Goulden designed a number of such allegorical memorials, including others at Crompton, in Greater Manchester, and at Redhill, Surrey. The Kingston memorial was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1983. This was revised upwards to Grade II*, denoting a building or structure of particular importance, in 2016.
History and description
The town of Kingston upon Thames received its first charter in 1200. It retains close links to its historic county, Surrey, although it is now the administrative centre for the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames, a borough of Greater London.[1] During World War I, the borough librarian began to maintain a record of the men from the town killed in the conflict and, at the war's end in 1919, the council determined to commemorate the dead by commissioning a memorial.[2] The commission was awarded to Richard Reginald Goulden.[3] Goulden himself had fought in the war, as a captain in the Royal Engineers until he was invalided out in 1916. He had trained as a sculptor at the Dover School of Art and at the National Art Training School, followed by a pre-war career as a teacher and artist.[4]
See also
- Grade II* listed war memorials in England
- Grade II* listed buildings in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
- List of public art in the Royal Borough of Kingston upon Thames
References and sources
References
Sources
- Cherry, Bridget; Pevsner, Nikolaus (2002). London 2: South. The Buildings of England. New Haven, US, London, UK: Yale University Press. ISBN 9780300096514.
{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: ref duplicates default (link)
External links
Media related to Kingston upon Thames War Memorial at Wikimedia Commons- Images of the memorial at The Victorian Web
