Promenade de Verdun War Memorial

Last updated

Promenade de Verdun War Memorial
War memorial, Promenade de Verdun (geograph 2176760).jpg
Type War memorial
LocationWoodcote, Purley, London Borough of Croydon
Coordinates 51°20′12″N0°08′10″W / 51.3367°N 0.136°W / 51.3367; -0.136
Built1922
Official namePromenade de Verdun Memorial Landscape
Designated18 February 2016
Reference no. 1431287
Listed Building – Grade II
Official namePromenade de Verdun War Memorial
Designated18 February 2016
Reference no. 1431367
Greater London UK relief location map.jpg
Red pog.svg
Location of Promenade de Verdun War Memorial in Greater London

The Promenade de Verdun War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the garden village of Woodcote, Purley, in the London Borough of Croydon, England. It was designed by a local surveyor, William Webb, who had laid out the garden village in the early 20th century. Webb determined on a memorial to the soldiers of France who were killed in the First World War; as a commemoration of their sacrifice, and as a means to foster good relations between the United Kingdom and the Republic of France. The memorial consists of a 0.5 km boulevard, lined with Lombardy poplars planted in 10 tonnes of soil brought from France, and culminating in a 6m high obelisk carved from Cornish granite. The obelisk is inscribed; "AUX/ SOLDATS DE FRANCE/ MORTS GLORIEUSEMENT/ PENDANT LA GRAND GUERRE" and was unveiled in 1922. The stone is a Grade II listed structure and the setting is registered on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

Contents

History

Woodcote Garden Village was laid out in the early 20th century by William Webb (1862–1930), [1] a surveyor and businessman from Kent. Webb bought the land in the 1890s and construction of the village took place between 1901 and 1920. [lower-alpha 1] [3] Work was interrupted by the First World War, and at its end, Webb determined on the establishment of a memorial to the soldiers of France who had died in the conflict. His joint aims were to honour the dead of Britain's greatest ally and to cement good relations between the two countries. [4] At the time of the memorial's construction, post-war relations between France and England were at a low ebb, due to differences in approach as to how to extract war reparations from their joint enemy, Germany. [5]

The memorial's name, Verdun, is taken from the Battle of Verdun, which took place on the Western Front in France from 21 February to 18 December 1916 and was the longest engagement of the First World War. The French and the German armies each sustained over a third of a million casualties. [6] In 2016, to commemorate the centenary of the battle, the war memorial and its setting were among three in Britain recognising French sacrifice which were given listed building status. [lower-alpha 2] [7]

Many of the trees which line the avenue were destroyed in the Great storm of 1987. Croydon London Borough Council, which owns and operates the site, has since undertaken replanting. [8] [9]

Description

Webb chose a slightly rising site for the memorial and laid out a 0.5 km boulevard which culminates in the obelisk carved from a single slab of Cornish granite. [4] The road is lined with lined with Lombardy poplars, to echo traditional French street planting, bedded in 10 tonnes of soil brought from France. [9] The soil, donated by the French government, came from Armentières on the Franco-German border. It was sifted prior to use and two sack loads of shrapnel and bullets were extracted. [10] The memorial landscape is listed at Grade II on the Register of Historic Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England. [4] The obelisk is a Grade II listed structure. It carries the inscription: "AUX/ SOLDATS DE FRANCE/ MORTS GLORIEUSEMENT/ PENDANT LA GRAND GUERRE". [11]

See also

Notes

  1. William Webb was committed to developing the Woodcote Estate as a garden suburb, reflecting an approach he called "Garden First". The buildings' architects were required to work in close cooperation with the landscape architects in the creation of the estate. [2]
  2. Along with the Verdun obelisk and the Promenade de Verdun Memorial Landscape, the other monuments listed or upgraded were La Délivrance in the London Borough of Barnet and the statue of Marshal Foch in central London. [7]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Purley, London</span> Human settlement in England

Purley is an area of the London Borough of Croydon in London, England, 11.7 miles (18.8 km) south of Charing Cross, with a history going back at least 800 years. It was originally granted as an estate from holdings at Sanderstead and until as a district of Surrey and then, with neighbouring Coulsdon, as an urban district that became an electoral ward of the London Borough of Croydon, becoming part of the ceremonial county of London, in 1965. In 2018 the Purley ward was divided into two: Purley and Woodcote, and Purley Oaks and Riddlesdown.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallington, London</span> Human settlement in England

Wallington is a town in the London Borough of Sutton, South London, England, 9.7 miles (15.6 km) south-west of Charing Cross. Before the Municipal Borough of Beddington and Wallington merged into the London Borough of Sutton in Greater London in 1965, it was part of the county of Surrey. Wallington is a post town in the SM postcode area.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Addington Palace</span> Mansion in Addington in Greater London, England

Addington Palace is an 18th-century mansion in Addington located within the London Borough of Croydon. It was built close to the site of an earlier manor house belonging to the Leigh family. It is particularly known for having been, between 1807 and 1897, the summer residence of the Archbishops of Canterbury. Since the 1930s most of the grounds have been occupied by Addington Palace Golf Club. Between 1953 and 1996 the mansion was occupied by the Royal School of Church Music. It was later used as a wedding and events venue.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wentworth Woodhouse</span> Grade I listed country house in South Yorkshire, England

Wentworth Woodhouse is a Grade I listed country house in the village of Wentworth, in the Metropolitan Borough of Rotherham in South Yorkshire, England. It is currently owned by the Wentworth Woodhouse Preservation Trust. The building has more than 300 rooms, with 250,000 square feet (23,000 m2) of floorspace, including 124,600 square feet (11,580 m2) of living area, and was – until it ceased to be privately owned – often listed as the largest private residence in the United Kingdom. It covers an area of more than 2.5 acres (1.0 ha), and is surrounded by a 180-acre (73 ha) park, and an estate of 15,000 acres (6,100 ha).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Willesden Jewish Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Willesden, London

The Willesden United Synagogue Cemetery, usually known as Willesden Jewish Cemetery, is a Jewish cemetery at Beaconsfield Road, Willesden, in the London Borough of Brent, England. It opened in 1873 on a 20-acre (0.08 km2) site. It has been described as the "Rolls-Royce" of London's Jewish cemeteries and is designated Grade II on Historic England's Register of Historic Parks and Gardens. The cemetery, which has 29,800 graves, has many significant memorials and monuments. Four of them are listed at Grade II. They include the tomb of Rosalind Franklin, who was a co-discoverer of the structure of DNA.

<i>La Délivrance</i> Sculpture by Émile Oscar Guillaume

La Délivrance is a 1914 bronze statue by the French sculptor Émile Oscar Guillaume (1867–1942). The statue was created as a celebration of the First Battle of the Marne, when the German army was stopped before capturing Paris in August 1914.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Queens Park, Crewe</span> Park in Crewe, Cheshire, England

Queens Park in Crewe, Cheshire, is a 44.5 acre (18ha) Grade II* listed public park opened in 1887, little changed from its original plan.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Undercliffe Cemetery</span> Cemetery in Bradford, West Yorkshire, England

Undercliffe Cemetery is located between Otley Road and Undercliffe Lane in the Bolton and Undercliffe ward, Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. The cemetery stands atop a hillside overlooking the city and contains some very impressive Victorian funerary monuments in a variety of styles. It is a notable example of a Victorian cemetery where a number of rich and prominent local residents have been buried, notably mill owners and former mayors. Undercliffe Cemetery is grade II* listed by English Heritage in their Register of Parks and Gardens of Special Historic Interest in England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Polish Air Force Memorial</span> War memorial in South Ruislip, London

The Polish Air Force Memorial is a war memorial in West London, England in memory of airmen from Poland who served in the Royal Air Force as part of the Polish contribution to World War II. Over 18,000 men and women served in the Polish squadrons of the RAF during the war, and over 2,000 died. The memorial marks the southern extremity of South Ruislip in the London Borough of Hillingdon, near RAF Northolt, where seven Polish-manned fighter squadrons were based at different times in the war.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Busbridge</span> Village and parish in Surrey, England

Busbridge is a village in the civil parish of Godalming, in the borough of Waverley in Surrey, England that adjoins the town of Godalming. It forms part of the Waverley ward of Bramley, Busbridge and Hascombe. It was until the Tudor period often recorded as Bushbridge and was a manor and hamlet of Godalming until gaining an ecclesiastical parish in 1865 complemented by a secular, civil parish in 1933. Gertrude Jekyll lived at Munstead Wood in the Munstead Heath locality of the village. Philip Carteret Webb and Chauncy Hare Townshend, the government lawyer/antiquarian and poet respectively owned its main estate, Busbridge House, the Busbridge Lakes element of which is a private landscape garden and woodland that hosts a wide range of waterfowl. On 1 April 2024 the parish of "Busbridge" was renamed to "Munstead and Tuesley".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bromley War Memorial</span> War memorial in London

The Bromley War Memorial in Bromley, Greater London, England commemorates the fallen of World War I and World War II. It was designed by British sculptor Sydney March, of the March family of artists.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Bootle War Memorial</span>

The Bootle War Memorial is in King's Gardens, Stanley Road, Bootle, Sefton, Merseyside, England. It was paid for partly by a grant from the local council, and partly by public subscription. The sculptor was Herman Cawthra, with assistance in the design from Hubert Ernest Bulmer, the borough's art director. The monument consists of a mother and child on top of an obelisk, which is surrounded by the figures of three servicemen. It was unveiled in 1922, and the names of those killed in the Second World War were added in 1948. The memorial was recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II listed building in 1986, and upgraded to Grade II* in 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southport War Memorial</span>

Southport War Memorial is in London Square, Lord Street, Southport, Merseyside, England. It consists of an obelisk flanked by two colonnades in the form of Greek temples. Outside the colonnades are memorial gardens, each containing a Pool of Remembrance and fountains. The memorial was designed by the local architects Grayson and Barnish, and the carving was executed by Herbert Tyson Smith. It was unveiled in 1923 by the Earl of Derby. Following the Second World War and subsequent conflicts further inscriptions and names have been added. The memorial is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Croydon Cenotaph</span> War memorial in London

Croydon Cenotaph is a war memorial, in Croydon, London, England. It is located outside the Croydon Clocktower arts complex, on Katharine Street in Croydon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Streatham War Memorial</span> War memorial in London

Streatham War Memorial is a war memorial to the war dead of the London district of Streatham in the two World Wars. It was unveiled in 1922, and is sited near the northwest corner of Streatham Common, London Borough of Lambeth, England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Kingston upon Thames War Memorial</span> War memorial in London

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 British sculptor Richard Reginald Goulden. The memorial includes a bronze statue of a nude warrior, carrying a flaming cross and wielding a sword with which he defends two children from a serpent, erected on a granite plinth, with bronze plaques listing the names of the dead. Goulden designed a number of such allegorical memorials, including others at Crompton, Greater Manchester, and Redhill, Surrey. The Kingston memorial was designated a Grade II listed structure in 1983. This was revised upwards in 2016 to Grade II*, denoting a building or structure of particular importance.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wallington Town Hall</span> Municipal building in London, England

Wallington Town Hall is a municipal building in Woodcote Road, Wallington, London. It is a Grade II listed building.

References

  1. "Promenade de Verdun". London Gardens Trust . Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  2. "Our History". Webb Estate Limited. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  3. Pevsner & Cherry 2002, pp. 235–236.
  4. 1 2 3 Historic England. "Promenade de Verdun Memorial Landscape (Grade II) (1431287)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  5. "Promenade De Verdun". Croydon London Borough Council . Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  6. Jankowski 2014, p. 261.
  7. 1 2 "Three French War Memorials are listed to mark Battle of Verdun Centenary". Government of the United Kingdom . Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  8. "Promenade de Verdun Memorial Landscape – Croydon". Parks & Gardens UK. 1 January 1922. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  9. 1 2 "Promenade De Verdun". Webb Estate Limited. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  10. "Promenade de Verdun". Imperial War Museums. Retrieved 11 October 2024.
  11. Historic England. "Promenade de Verdun War Memorial (Grade II) (1431367)". National Heritage List for England . Retrieved 11 October 2024.

Sources