Arch of Remembrance
The Arch of Remembrance is a war memorial in Victoria Park, Leicester, designed by Edwin Lutyens, comprising a monumental tetrapylon quadrifrons triumphal arch in a railed enclosure. It is one of 58 war memorials designed by Lutyens in the UK and elsewhere; the 44 in England are all listed buildings. The Arch of Remembrance became a listed building in 1955, and was upgraded to Grade I in 1996. It has been described as "the most imposing of Lutyens's English war memorials".
Background
After the end of the First World War, a public meeting was held in Leicester on 14 May 1919, leading to the creation of a War Memorial Committee to propose a suitable memorial. Edwin Lutyens was selected as the architect.
His original plan involved crossing avenues of lime trees to create the plan of a cathedral, with a Cenotaph at the west end, and a Stone of Remembrance at the crossing, within a circular walled enclosure, inscribed with the names of the dead. The funds raised were not sufficient to realise this ambitious plan, and the proposals were scaled back in March 1923, limited to a single memorial archway which became the Arch of Remembrance.
Construction started on the revised memorial in 1923 and work was completed by 1925. The structure was begun by Nine Elms Stone and Masonry Works, and completed by Holloway Brothers (who also built the Cenotaph, Southampton for Lutyens). Due to a continuing shortfall of funding, the War Memorial Committee took out a bank loan to pay for the works to be completed, with five members as guarantors.
Description
The Portland stone memorial, a square plan triumphal arch with four legs, is 69 feet, 4¼ inches (approximately 21m) tall, with large arched openings on the main axis to the northwest and southeast, with smaller lower arches to the northeast and southwest. The main axis is aligned with the sunrise on 11 November. The width, heights and depths of the arches are in simple 2:4:1 proportions: the larger arches are 18 feet (5.5 m) wide, 36 feet (11 m) tall and 9 feet (2.7 m) deep; and the smaller arches are 12 feet (3.7 m) wide, 24 feet (7.3 m) tall and 6 feet (1.8 m) deep. Stone wreaths carved in relief beside the arches encircle the inscribed dates "MCM/ XIV" (1914) and "MCM/ XIX" (1919). Above is a heavy attic, bearing the arms of the city of Leicester in relief carving, which is stepped back, and then topped by a low dome. The tetrapylon/quadrifons arch is similar to his later India Gate design.
The larger arches on the main axis form a coffered barrel vault ceiling, crossed by the lower arches to either side. Four painted stone flags are set inside the archway: the Union Flag and the flags of the three British armed services, Royal Navy, British Army and Royal Air Force.
Above the main arch is the inscription "GLORY TO GOD IN THE HIGHEST AND ON EARTH PEACE", and on the opposite side, facing the park, "ALL THEY HOPED FOR, ALL THEY HAD, THEY GAVE / TO SAVE MANKIND - THEMSELVES THEY SCORNED TO SAVE". Inscriptions lower down, facing into the park, were added later to display the dates of the Second World War "MCM / XXXIX" (1939) and "MCM / XLV" (1945).
The side arches also have inscriptions, "REMEMBER IN GRATITUDE TWELVE THOUSAND MEN / OF THIS CITY AND COUNTY / WHO FOUGHT AND DIED FOR FREEDOM. / REMEMBER ALL WHO SERVED AND STROVE / AND THOSE WHO PATIENTLY ENDURED", and words from Blake's poem "And did those feet in ancient time": "I WILL NOT CEASE FROM MENTAL FIGHT / NOR SHALL MY SWORD SLEEP IN MY HAND / TILL WE HAVE BUILT JERUSALEM / IN ENGLAND'S GREEN AND PLEASANT LAND".
The arch is surrounded with a circle of iron railings, with four pairs of stone gate piers, each topped by a stone urn, bearing gates allowing access opposite each arch.
Reception
The arch was unveiled on 4 July 1925 with a large crowd in attendance, including Lutyens and two local widows, Mrs Elizabeth Butler who lost four of eight sons who served in the war, and Mrs Annie Glover who lost three sons. It was dedicated by Cyril Bardsley, Bishop of Peterborough (who from 1927 was the first diocesan Bishop of Leicester in modern times), to the 12,000 men from Leicestershire killed during the First World War . It became a listed building in 1955, upgraded to Grade I in 1996.
The memorial stands at the southeast end of War Memorial Approach, an ornamental walkway also known as Peace Walk. The northwest end of the approach is marked by gates and gate-piers, also by Lutyens and separately Grade II* listed, opening on to University Road. Victoria Park itself was laid out in 1883 and is also Grade II listed.
A smaller memorial in the park commemorates the American 82nd Airborne Division, which was stationed in Leicester during the Second World War, before D-Day.
See also
References
- The Arch of Remembrance, Historic England
- Leicester Arch Of Remembrance, Imperial War Museum
- Lutyens and the Leicester Arch of Remembrance
Coordinates: 52°37′24″N 1°07′17″W / 52.62341°N 1.12151°W