The council website confirmed:
In 1921, Sir Thomas Rowbotham, a former Major of Stockport, presented to the town, Woodbank Memorial Park in honour of the Stockport men who died in the Great War. The park is 90 acres in extent, is beautifully wooded and, skirted by the river Goyt, presents striking natural views. The bluebells in the woods are a feature almost unequalled in any public park in the country. (Taken from the Stockport Official Guidebook 1949)
Having completed our run we found our way to the memorial. I had two particular reasons for wanting to visit this memorial; firstly it has been mentioned on numerous occasions in books and periodicals I have read and secondly I have not come across a war memorial which is an art gallery. Hospitals, statues, obelisks, crosses, sports grounds, social halls, gates - but no art gallery.
The memorial stands a little away from the town centre and is open most days. There are displays of art and a soon-to-be-opened gift shop. Staff are on hand to guide the visitor and are very welcoming and knowledgeable.
We visited on a day which was quite overcast and gloomy. However the memorial's Hall of Memory relies largely on natural top-lighting supported by bronze pedestal lamps, so it had an appropriately sombre air today. I would imagine that on a bright sunny day (if such things occur in Stockport!) it would look quite vibrant. It is a memorial that will merit visits on different occasions to appreciate the different moods the light can bring.
The idea for the memorial was first mooted in 1919, at a meeting chaired by Sir Thomas Rowbotham, the same man who donated the land for Woodbank Park. The trustees of the estate of Stockport chemist Samuel Kay, J.P. donated the site and stipulated:
the Memorial building should provide accomodation for an Art Gallery, and for assembly and meeting rooms for Technical and Higher Educational purposes, and for exhibitions in Science and Art and Technology, and all allied purposes, and to provide a site, if required, for the extension of the Municipal Secondary School.
The memorial was opened on the site of the old Stockport Grammar School in 1925 by Prince Henry, the entire amount for this stunning tribute having been raised by subscription by the people of Stockport, an amount of £24,000, the equivalent of over £1 million in 2015 terms. There is some rare British Pathe footage of the opening here http://www.britishpathe.com/video/prince-henry-2/query/Memorial And yes, it's raining! At the opening he said:
No tribute can be too great for those who, without flinching or hesitation, faced the horrors and deprivations of war, and willingly gave their lives for others and for the country they loved so well.
The building was designed by Messers Halliday and Agate of Manchester. It was intended as a space to encourage the love of the beautiful and has regular art exhibitions, lectures and other cultural events.
The main feature of the memorial is the Hall of Memory. It is a semi-circular apse of Italian marble and the main statue was created by Gilbert Ledward of London. It depicts Britannia standing with a flag, holding in her right hand a Sword of Honour and in the left a Palm of Victory. The kneeling figure in front of her symbolises the men who fell in the war, having a broken sword. A serpent is crushed beneath the shield showing the victory over evil.
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| Stockport Hall of Memory (c) Dawn Broom |
The panels around the statue contain names of 2200 Stockport people who fell in the Great War, as well as those added after the Second World War and subsequent conflicts. Above the panels are inscribed the words:
THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE
THEY DIED FOR FREEDOM AND HONOUR
LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER SEE THAT THEIR NAME BE NOT FORGOTTEN
How appropriate that, in 2015, the original vision of the Art Gallery and Memorial is still being preserved by the people of Stockport and that the Hall of Memory is beautifully kept to ensure that those names will not be forgotten.
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