Holy Island War Memorial, or Lindisfarne War Memorial, is a First World War memorial on the

tidal island A tidal island is a piece of land that is connected to the mainland by a natural or man-made causeway that is exposed at low tide and submerged at high tide. Because of the mystique surrounding tidal islands, many of them have been sites of ...

of Lindisfarne (or Holy Island) off the coast of

Northumberland Northumberland () is a county in Northern England, one of two counties in England which border with Scotland. Notable landmarks in the county include Alnwick Castle, Bamburgh Castle, Hadrian's Wall and Hexham Abbey. It is bordered by land ...

in the far north east of England. Designed by

Sir Edwin Lutyens Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens ( ; 29 March 1869 – 1 January 1944) was an English architect known for imaginatively adapting traditional architectural styles to the requirements of his era. He designed many English country houses, war memoria ...

, the memorial is 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 ...

, thousands of war memorials were built across Britain. Amongst the most prominent designers of memorials was the architect

, described by

Historic England Historic England (officially the Historic Buildings and Monuments Commission for England) is an executive non-departmental public body of the British Government sponsored by the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. It is tasked w ...

as "the leading English architect of his generation". Lutyens designed

the Cenotaph The Cenotaph is a war memorial on Whitehall in London, England. Designed by Sir Edwin Lutyens, it was unveiled in 1920 as the United Kingdom's national memorial to the British and Commonwealth dead of the First World War, was rededicated in 19 ...

Whitehall Whitehall is a road and area in the City of Westminster, Central London. The road forms the first part of the A3212 road from Trafalgar Square to Chelsea. It is the main thoroughfare running south from Trafalgar Square towards Parliament Sq ...

in London, which became the focus for the national

Remembrance Sunday Remembrance Sunday is held in the United Kingdom as a day to commemorate the contribution of British and Commonwealth military and civilian servicemen and women in the two World Wars and later conflicts. It is held on the second Sunday in Nov ...

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 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 m ...

cemeteries and in several of Lutyens's civic war memorials. Lindisfarne's memorial is one of fifteen War Crosses by Lutyens, all sharing a broadly similar design. Lutyens established his reputation as an architect designing country houses for wealthy clients; his connection with Lindisfarne originated in 1902 with a commission to redevelop the 16th-century

Lindisfarne Castle Lindisfarne Castle is a 16th-century castle located on Holy Island, near Berwick-upon-Tweed, Northumberland, England, much altered by Sir Edwin Lutyens in 1901. The island is accessible from the mainland at low tide by means of a causeway. H ...

into a country residence for Edward Hudson, the owner of '' Country Life'' magazine and of several properties for which he engaged Lutyens's services. This connection is believed to have led to his commission for Holy Island War Memorial. Lutyens gave his services '' pro bono'' to the island's war memorial committee.

History and design

Holy Island War Memorial is a Lutyens War Cross design, constructed of pink ashlar from nearby Doddington, the same material used for Lindisfarne Priory. The construction work was undertaken by a Mr Tolly of

Belford, Northumberland Belford is a village and civil parish in Northumberland, England, about halfway between Alnwick and Berwick-upon-Tweed, a few miles inland from the east coast and just off the Great North Road, the A1. At the 2001 census it had a population of ...

. The cross is formed of a tapered, lozenge-shaped shaft approximately tall with short arms near the top linked to it with cyma moulding. The shaft rises from a base of three square stones, which stand on a single circular step. The central stone bears the inscription: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF / OUR GLORIOUS DEAD / 1914 – 1918" on the east face; the inscription "TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF / OUR GLORIOUS DEAD / 1939 – 1945" was added later in memory of the dead from the Second World War. Beneath the inscriptions, on the lower stones of the base, are the names of Lindisfarne's war dead. The memorial was unveiled on 4 June 1922 at a well-attended ecumenical ceremony. The unveiling was performed by Major Morley Crossman DSO while the Reverend WB Hall performed the dedication. The memorial is sited on the Heugh, within view of Lutyens's Lindisfarne Castle and its gardens (by Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll) and adjacent to the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory. It was severely damaged during winter storms in 1983–4; the shaft snapped in two as a result of exceptional winds and the top part was later replaced.Skelton, p. 155. Holy Island War Memorial was designated a grade II

on 15 May 1986. In November 2015, as part of the commemorations of the centenary of the First World War, Lutyens's 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 The National Heritage List for England (NHLE) is England's official database of protected heritage assets. It includes details of all English listed buildings, scheduled monuments, register of historic parks and gardens, protected shipwrecks, a ...

list entries were updated and expanded. As part of this process, the Lindisfarne memorial was upgraded from grade II to grade II*.

References

* {{Reflist World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England Monuments and memorials in Northumberland Grade II* listed monuments and memorials Grade II* listed buildings in Northumberland Lindisfarne Works of Edwin Lutyens in England War memorials by Edwin Lutyens 1922 sculptures

Background

History and design

See also

References