Oldham War Memorial is a

war memorial A war memorial is a building, monument, statue, or other edifice to celebrate a war or victory, or (predominating in modern times) to commemorate those who died or were injured in a war. Symbolism Historical usage It has ...

Oldham Oldham is a large town in Greater Manchester, England, amid the Pennines and between the rivers Irk and Medlock, southeast of Rochdale and northeast of Manchester. It is the administrative centre of the Metropolitan Borough of Oldham ...

, England, comprising a large bronze sculpture group on a granite plinth. It was built to commemorate the men of Oldham who were killed in 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 ...

. Bronze plaques on the wall of the churchyard nearby list the fallen, including Mabel Drinkwater, a nurse who died after an operation at Oldham Royal Infirmary. A mechanised roll of honour was added in the 1950s, listing the men from Oldham who were killed in the

Second World War World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposi ...

. The memorial became 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 ...

in 1973. The listing was upgraded to Grade II* in December 2016.

Background and location

After the end of the First World War, a campaign was started in 1919 to raise £20,000 to build a war memorial in Oldham, and to endow educational scholarships for the children who lost a father, with the intention that any excess funds would be paid to Oldham Royal Infirmary (the hospital closed in 1989, and merged with

Royal Oldham Hospital The Royal Oldham Hospital is a NHS hospital in the Coldhurst area of Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. It is managed by the Northern Care Alliance NHS Foundation Trust. The hospital has its own volunteer-run radio station, Radio Cavell, whic ...

, its site later becoming the home for

Oldham Sixth Form College Oldham Sixth Form College is a government-funded college of further education in Oldham, Greater Manchester, England. Opened in 1992 as a specialist centre for advanced-level study, the Principal of the college is Jayne Clarke. Despite being ...

). The memorial was commissioned in 1919 by the Oldham War Memorial Committee. It was designed and built by Thomas Taylor and the bronze sculpture was by

Albert Toft Albert Toft (3 June 1862 – 18 December 1949) was a British sculptor. Toft's career was dominated by public commemorative commissions in bronze, mostly single statues of military or royal figures. The Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria in ...

. The siting of the memorial proved controversial: the first proposed site in the Market Place, close to some public lavatories, was rejected, and a second site by St Mary's Church was considered to be too close to a public house, the Greaves Arms. Other sites in Alexandra Park or close to the library were considered, before the decision was made to erect the memorial near St Mary's Church, opposite the

Old Town Hall Old or OLD may refer to: Places * Old, Baranya, Hungary * Old, Northamptonshire, England *Old Street station, a railway and tube station in London (station code OLD) *OLD, IATA code for Old Town Municipal Airport and Seaplane Base, Old Town, ...

Memorial

The war memorial comprises a bronze group sculpture of five life-size soldiers in full battle dress and carrying their weapons, mounted on top of a high granite plinth. At a late stage, the sculpture group was rotated 180 degrees to face towards the town hall rather than the church. The soldiers are depicted as if making their way along trenches: one of the figures stands on top of the memorial, as if having climbed out of the trenches, encouraging his comrades to advance. The same figure used at the

Royal Fusiliers War Memorial The Royal Fusiliers War Memorial is a memorial in London, dedicated to the members of the Royal Fusiliers killed in the World Wars, Russian Civil War and subsequent conflicts, along with members of a number of London Regiment battalions kille ...

in London, and the 41st Division memorial at Flers in France. The plinth originally had a pair of bronze doors at either side, to the north and south, allowing access to a chamber inside housing the roll of honour of the 1st, 10th and 24th Battalions of the

Manchester Regiment The Manchester Regiment was a line infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 until 1958. The regiment was created during the 1881 Childers Reforms by the amalgamation of the 63rd (West Suffolk) Regiment of Foot and the 96th ...

, and a space for private prayer. The south pair of doors was removed in the 1950s and replaced by glass window through which a mechanised roll of honour of the fallen from the

can be viewed. An inscriptions over the south doors reads: "DEATH IS THE GATE OF LIFE / 1914–1918"; and one over the window on the south side reads: "TO GOD BE THE PRAISE ".

History

The memorial was unveiled by General Sir Ian Hamilton on 28 April 1923, before a crowd estimated at over 10,000, and dedicated by the

Bishop of Manchester The Bishop of Manchester is the ordinary of the Church of England Diocese of Manchester in the Province of York.'' Crockford's Clerical Directory 2008/2009 (100th edition)'', Church House Publishing (). The current bishop is David Walker w ...

, William Temple. It was designated as a Grade II

in 1973. It was cleaned and restored in 2012–13, and rededicated on 10 November 2013. In 2016, the memorial's listing was upgraded to II*.

Notes

References

Imperial War Museum

War Memorials Trust

Public Monuments and Sculpture Association

War memorial facelift is fitting tribute to town's fallen heroes
Manchester Evening News, 32 January 2013

buildingconservation.com
War Memorials Online

Oldham Roll of Honour (1939–1945)

Manchester and Lancashire Family History Society
{{Albert Toft World War I memorials in England World War II memorials in England 1923 sculptures Bronze sculptures in England Sculptures by Albert Toft Manchester Regiment Oldham Grade II* listed monuments and memorials 1923 in England

Background and location

Memorial

History

See also

Notes

References