York and Lancs Memorial Weston Park, Sheffield

[Kitchener's Bugle]

I recently visited the impressive York and Lancs Memorial in Weston Park, Sheffield.

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

The York and Lancaster Regiment war memorial, Sheffield, of 1923 by Roy Smith, G N Morewood, and Francis Jahn, is listed at Grade II for the following principal reasons:

 

* Historic interest: as a poignant reminder of the tragic impact of world events, this large-scale memorial commemorates the severe losses of this northern regiment, which included many Pals battalions from specific towns, during in the First World War and subsequent regimental losses during the Second World War

* Architectural interest: as an eye-catching obelisk memorial incorporating bronze figures of contemporary soldiers by G N Morewood and Roy Smith in the manner of the sculptures of the eminent war memorial sculptor Charles Sargeant Jagger, who had previously studied at the Sheffield Technical School of Art where they were students at this time, and topped by a bronze allegorical figure by their lecturer, Francis Jahn.

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

At the centre of the memorial is a tall, tapering obelisk with a blocky entablature band on which stands a bronze allegorical figure representing Victory. The winged female figure draped in a flowing robe holds a laurel wreath in her outstretched right hand and a palm frond in her left hand.

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

Standing on square plinths on these lobes are two life-size bronze figures. The west figure depicts a private soldier in contemporary battle uniform with a Lee-Enfield rifle slung over his right shoulder and carrying kit including his tin helmet on his back.

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

The east figure depicts an officer, also dressed in contemporary battle uniform, wearing his tin helmet and carrying a pistol in his right hand. The front of the base of the statue is inscribed ROY SMITH, and the side is inscribed E J PARLANTI FOUNDER, LONDON.

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

Eight battalions of the Regiment fought on the first day of the Battle of the Somme during the First World War, including the Sheffield City Battalion, known as the 'Sheffield Pals'. The Sheffield Pals had initially trained at Bramhall Lane football and cricket ground before training at Redmires Camp (scheduled monument), Lodge Moor, above Sheffield. The Somme offensive began on the 1st July 1916 and by the evening of 3rd July the Sheffield Pals are recorded as sustaining 513 officers and men killed, wounded or missing, with an additional 75 wounded. During the course of the First World War the Regiment as a whole suffered 48,650 casualties out of 57,000 men serving, with 8814 killed. The Regiment won four Victoria Crosses and 59 battle honours, the largest number for any English regiment during the war.
 

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

After the end of the war the York and Lancaster Memorial Committee raised £12,000 through public subscription, press appeals, and collecting boxes in shops and schools. The Committee approached the Sheffield Technical School of Art to design the memorial. The monument was a collaborative effect. The allegorical figure of Victory was designed by Francis Jahn, a lecturer at the School who taught modelling. The two life-like bronze figures depicting an officer and a private soldier were by students Roy Smith and G N Morewood, with all the figures modelled by the students. The memorial itself was designed by Roy Smith. When listed in 1973 the war memorial was attributed to Charles Sargeant Jagger. Jagger who has become renowned for his war memorials, notably the Royal Artillery Memorial, Hyde Park Corner, London (Grade I), had studied at the Sheffield Technical School of Art before winning a scholarship to the Royal College of Art, Kensington, in 1907. However, there is no documentary evidence that he was involved and it is not recognised amongst his commissioned war memorials (Oxford Dictionary of National Biography). The bronzes were cast by the well-regarded Parlanti bronze foundry in 1923. The unveiling ceremony took place on 7th July 1923, undertaken by Field Marshall Plumer.

An inscription was later added commemorating the 1,222 regimental soldiers who lost their lives in the Second World War.

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

This is the information Plaque:-

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

The war memorial stands adjacent to the York and Lancaster Regiment Boer war memorial (Grade II) which in itself is a very unusual design.

 

 

The war memorial stands adjacent to the York and Lancaster Regiment Boer war memorial (Grade II) which in itself is a very unusual design.

 

 

 

[Kitchener's Bugle]

This memorial is also wonderfully executed, with very fine detail.

 

[trajan]

Thanks for posting these KB, as they are so little known monuments, even in Sheffie! I was admiring and explaining them to my two lads only two weeks ago...

 

Julian

[Steven Broomfield]

Excellent: thanks.

[Fattyowls]

I think this is even better than the main one considering the artists and designers. Even the pile of stuff in front of the inscription looks impressive. Nice one again KB.

 

Pete.

[Kitchener's Bugle]

Thanks very much for your feedback...... it did impress me!.