The British Thomson-Houston Company War Memorial is a

First World War memorial World War I is remembered and commemorated by various war memorials, including civic memorials, larger national monuments, war cemeteries, private memorials and a range of utilitarian designs such as halls and parks, dedicated to remembering th ...

Rugby, Warwickshire Rugby is a market town in eastern Warwickshire, England, close to the River Avon. In the 2021 census its population was 78,125, making it the second-largest town in Warwickshire. It is the main settlement within the larger Borough of Rugby whi ...

, in the West Midlands of England. It was erected by the

British Thomson-Houston Company British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...

in memory of the firm's employees who left to fight in the First World War and were killed in service. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1921 and is now a grade II*

listed building In the United Kingdom, a listed building or listed structure is one that has been placed on one of the four statutory lists maintained by Historic England in England, Historic Environment Scotland in Scotland, in Wales, and the Northern Irel ...

Background

In the aftermath of the

First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...

and its unprecedented casualties, thousands of war memorials were built across Britain. Amongst the most prominent designers of memorials was the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, described by Historic England as "the leading English architect of his generation". Lutyens designed the Cenotaph on

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A roads in Zone 3 of the Great Britain numbering scheme, A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea, London, Chelsea. It is the main ...

in London, which became the focus for the national Remembrance Sunday commemorations, as well as the

Thiepval Memorial to the Missing The Thiepval Memorial to the Missing of the Somme is a war memorial to 72,337 missing British and South African servicemen who died in the Battles of the Somme of the First World War between 1915 and 1918, with no known grave. It is near the ...

—the largest British war memorial anywhere in the world—and the

Stone of Remembrance The Stone of Remembrance is a standardised design for war memorials that was designed in 1917 by the British architect Sir Edwin Lutyens for the Imperial War Graves Commission (IWGC). It was designed to commemorate the dead of World War I, to b ...

which appears in all large

Commonwealth War Graves Commission The Commonwealth War Graves Commission (CWGC) is an intergovernmental organisation of six independent member states whose principal function is to mark, record and maintain the graves and places of commemoration of Commonwealth of Nations mil ...

cemeteries and in several of Lutyens's civic war memorials. The Thomson-Houston Company memorial is one of 15 War Crosses by Lutyens, all of which share a similar design.

British Thomson-Houston British Thomson-Houston (BTH) was a British engineering and heavy industrial company, based at Rugby, Warwickshire, England, and founded as a subsidiary of the General Electric Company (GE) of Schenectady, New York, United States. They were kno ...

was an engineering firm based in Rugby, majority owned by

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable energ ...

. During the First World War, the Rugby factory produced components for the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against F ...

, including signalling and radio equipment. The memorial is dedicated to the 243 company employees who were killed fighting in the First World War and was later rededicated to include 175 employees killed in the Second World War. The British Thomson-Houston memorial was one of six war memorials designed by Lutyens for a private company, the others being the large

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It am ...

and North Eastern Railway memorials in

Derby Derby ( ) is a city and unitary authority area in Derbyshire, England. It lies on the banks of the River Derwent in the south of Derbyshire, which is in the East Midlands Region. It was traditionally the county town of Derbyshire. Derby gai ...

and

York York is a cathedral city with Roman origins, sited at the confluence of the rivers Ouse and Foss in North Yorkshire, England. It is the historic county town of Yorkshire. The city has many historic buildings and other structures, such as a ...

respectively, and smaller indoor memorials for

Imperial Tobacco Imperial Brands plc (formerly Imperial Tobacco Group plc), is a British multinational tobacco company headquartered in Bristol, England. It is the world's fourth-largest international cigarette company measured by market share after Philip Mor ...

, the London Assurance Company, and Lloyd's of London.Skelton, p. 96–97.

History and design

The board of the British Thomson-Houston Company met in April 1921 and delegated responsibility for commissioning a suitable war memorial to its chairman. The memorial was unveiled six months later on 29 October 1921 by Field Marshal Sir William Robertson and dedicated by the Archdeacon of Warwick. During construction, undertaken by local builders' firm J Parnell & Son Ltd, a time capsule containing information about the company and its war records was buried beneath the memorial. the total cost of erecting the memorial was £3,243 (1921). Following Lutyens' War Cross design, the British Thomson-Houston Company War Memorial consists of a single cross, high in

Portland stone Portland stone is a limestone from the Tithonian stage of the Jurassic period quarried on the Isle of Portland, Dorset. The quarries are cut in beds of white-grey limestone separated by chert beds. It has been used extensively as a building sto ...

, with short arms set near the top of the tapering shaft. The cross is moulded to a base of four uneven square steps and a square plinth, which itself sits on a diameter plinth—making it unusual among Lutyens' memorials. The main inscription on the monument, on the square plinth, reads "IN MEMORY OF THE MEN OF THE BRITISH THOMSON-HOUSTON COY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE GREAT WARS", with the dates of the two world wars inscribed to either side; below is the dedication "THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE". The names of the fallen are recorded on the round plinth. When unveiled, the memorial sat at the former entrance to the British Thomson-Houston factory on Mill Road. The site was redeveloped in 2010 and the memorial was relocated to a site around away on Technology Drive, formerly occupied by the firm's electrical engineering works. The memorial was designated a grade II

on 13 June 2007. In October 2015, as part of commemorations for the centenary of the First World War, Lutyens' war memorials were recognised as a "national collection" and all of his free-standing memorials in England were listed or had their listing status reviewed and their National Heritage List for England list entries were updated and expanded. As part of this process, the British Thomson-Houston Company War Memorial was upgraded to grade II* listed building status.

References

* {{Authority control World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England Monuments and memorials in Warwickshire Grade II* listed buildings in Warwickshire Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Buildings and structures in Rugby, Warwickshire Works of Edwin Lutyens in England War memorials by Edwin Lutyens Buildings and structures completed in 1921

Background

History and design

See also

References