Men of Hackney

Men of Hackney - Taken by Colin McIntyre 01 Jan 1985

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Men of Hackney and St Johns Church - Taken by Colin McIntyre 01 Jan 1985

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St John at Hackney War Memorial - Taken by Marathon (geograph) licensed or reuse under the Creative Commons License 19 Nov 2014

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Close up of robed knight in bronze. - Taken by War Memorials Trust 12 Oct 2017

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Context of the memorial within St John's Churchyard gardens (please ignore the unfortunately timed pigeon). - Taken by War Memorials Trust 12 Oct 2017

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Some damage/erosion has occurred to the stone torch on the South side. - Taken by War Memorials Trust 12 Oct 2017

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View of the memorial from the South. - Taken by War Memorials Trust 12 Oct 2017

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Photograph of Sculpture - Taken by WMT 23 Oct 2017

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Reference WMO/196105

Address:

St John-at-Hackney Churchyard Gardens

Lower Clapton Road

Hackney

London

England

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Status: On original site

Type: Freestanding

Location: External

Setting: Within a garden/park/churchyard/enclosure/Marketplace

Description: Cenotaph

Materials:

Metal Bronze
Stone Limestone

Lettering: Incised

Conflicts:

Second World War (1939-1945)

About the memorial: The memorial is in a small park in front of the church at the bottom extremity of Lower Clapton Road. A cenotaph has a knight in armour embedded in a niche at the top. Details below from Historic England Listing entry. GV II War memorial by Hermon Cawthra. Portland stone pillar/obelisk with stepped top and bronze figure in upper niche on north side. On a square base of three steps; lower step pale granite. Inscriptions to north, south and west sides. Bronze, robed figure of a knight to north side, holding sword and wreath. The upper level bears the inscription: COURAGE / SACRIFICE A stone plaque at the base of the pillar is inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND TO THE HONOURED / MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF THIS BOROUGH WHO / MADE THE SUPREME / SACRIFICE DURING THE / GREAT WAR OF / 1914 - 1918 The south side has a wreath surrounding a burning torch carved in the stone work at the head of the pillar. A stone plaque at the base of the pillar is inscribed: THE HOUSES IN / WATTISFORD ROAD / MILLFIELDS / ERECTED FOR THE USE / OF DISABLED SAILORS / AND SOLDIERS ARE A / FURTHER TRIBUTE OF / THE BOROUGH TO THE / MEMORY OF THE FALLEN A stone plaque at the base of the west side of the pillar is inscribed: TO THE GLORY OF GOD / AND TO THE HONOURED / MEMORY OF THE MEN / OF THIS BOROUGH WHO / MADE THE SUPREME / SACRIFICE DURING THE / GREAT WAR OF / 1939 - 1945 There is no inscription to the east side. The almshouses in Wattisford Road for Disabled Soldiers and Sailors, referred to in the inscription, was opened in 1923. Designed by Gunton & Gunton, they consist of a row of six cottages with a semi-detached house at each end. HISTORY: The memorial was designed by the sculptor Hermon Cawthra FRBS ARCA (1886-1971). Cawthra was a sculptor in stone, wood and bronze. He was born in London, studied at Salts Art School, Shipley, the Leeds School of Art, the Royal College of Art, and the Royal Academy Schools. He exhibited at the Royal Academy and other leading London and provincial galleries. Cawthra's best-known work is the statue of Robert Burns of 1936 at the Burns Mausoleum in Dumfries. He designed several war memorials, including those at Bury and Bootle in Lancashire, and other sculptures including a Mother and Child in Bishop's Park, Hammersmith and Fulham. He also completed relief work for the Sadler's Wells Theatre building of 1930 in Islington (listed grade II). The St John at Hackney war memorial was dedicated by the Bishop Suffragan of Stepney on 8 August 1921 and unveiled by Sergeant Harry Kenny and Sergeant Issy Smith. It commemorates the men of Hackney who served and died in WWI and WWII. On 28 July 1922, The Builder magazine published pictures of the memorial. It reported that through the design 'the connection of Hackney with the mediaeval crusades (the Knights Templar were located at Temple Mills in 1270) is linked up with the recent campaign in Jerusalem, in which Hackney churches took part'. SUMMARY OF IMPORTANCE: The war memorial has historic special interest as a permanent testimony to the sacrifice of the people of Hackney in the wars of the early C20. Furthermore, the St John at Hackney memorial has special architectural interest in its striking design by a noted sculptor. The stripped-down geometric design of the pillar neatly frames the contrastingly fluid and expressive bronze figure. It also has group value with the listed tombs in the churchyard, but more particularly in its direct axial relationship with the grade II* listed church of St John at Hackney and it complements the church tower, which is also made from Portland stone..

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Hackney and Kingsland Gazette report of unveiling 10 October 1921
HACKNEY BOROUGH WAR MEMORIAL
IMPRESSIVE UNVEILING CEREMONY
An impressive and heart-stirring scene was witnessed in the public gardens of Hackney Churchyard on Saturday afternoon when the Borough of Hackney Monumental War Memorial was unveiled by two local heroes Harry Kenny V.C. and Issy Smith V.C. and dedicated by the Bishop of Stepney, in the presence of a large gathering of civic dignitaries and representatives of military, ex-service, Red Cross and nursing organisations besides relatives and friends of the fallen 
Description of the Memorial
The memorial, which stands in the centre of the flower gardens, with the Parish Church in the background, is of simple but imposing design. It is of white Portland stone on a grey granite base and somewhat resembles the Cenotaph in shape. On the face, at the top, is a symbolic figure of a Crusader in full armour with his hands crossed on the hilt of a large two-handed sword, while below is carved the words “Courage” “Sacrifice” and on the reverse side a wreath of laurel and a torch.
At the side of the monument had been erected a platform which was covered with a large Union Jack, made by a soldier’s widow, and used as a pall at the funerals of a large number of men who died from wounds or the effects of gas
An Armed Guard of Honour
Lined up in a semi-circle on the other side of the monument was an armed guard of honour provided by the 10th (Hackney) Battalion London Regiment under the command of Captain A.J. Whitmarsh D.S.O. M.C. accompanied by Captain A. N. Francis and Captain W.N. Dunn, Captain and Adjutant R.W. Beacham O.B.E. M.C. was also present and the regiment band, prior to the commencement of the service played Handel’s Largo as a voluntary.
In front of the platform and facing the monument were V.A.D. nurses of the 134th(Hackney) section of the Red Cross Society under Commandant Miss Healy and of the 160th (Stoke Newington) Section, Red Cross Society under Commandant Miss Clow. Standing on their right were half-a-dozen decorated ex-service policemen from the Hackney (“J”) Division who attended under sub-Divisional Inspector Ward as a tribute of respect to their fallen comrades while forming an outer circle were the uniformed bands and members of the South Hackney and Clapton branches of the British Legion.
The Procession
A procession of choristers, the two V.C.’s, the Mayor and ex-Mayors of the borough, members of the War Memorial Committee, councillors and clergy formed up at the church and as it advanced to the platform “Onward, Christian Soldiers” was sung the guard of honour standing at the salute
Mr C. Winkley (Chairman of the Memorial Committee and an ex-Mayor of Hackney) presided, supported on the platform by the Bishop of Stepney, the Rector of Hackney (the Rev. G. Vernon Smith M.C.) Sir I. Stanley Johnson M.P. (President and ex-Mayor of Hackney) The Mayor of Hackney (Alderman Herbert S. Morrison J.P.) Councillor the Rev. John Hillman (Chairman of the Finance Committee) Mr Walter Allen (Chairman of the Celebrations Committee) Councillor G.A. Hasemer J.P. Mr G. Macleod (Secretary of the Soldiers’ and Sailors’ (Hackney) Foundation) Mr J.J. McClelland L.C.C., Councillor G.W Reece and Mrs Cornish. Among others present were Colonel de Lara Cohen, the Rev. W. Evans, Mr D.T.  Keymer, O.B.E. & Mrs Keymer, Councillor Mrs Benwell, Mrs Vernon Smith, Mr and Mrs  W. C. Power, Councillor T. Chapman J.P.  Councillor and Mrs  J.S. Leeson, Councillor H. C. Rawll, Councillor Jenkins, Captain Lewis, Captain Warburg L.C.C., Major E. H Coumbe,  L.C.C., Councillor Dubery, Mr Norman Scorgie, Lieut. H. Layland,, Captain Danoy, Mr F Machan, Mr Edward Tee (representing 30th Detachment Red Cross Society) and many more
Origins of the Memorial
On behalf of the Committee, the Rev. John Hillman made a statement, in which he mentioned that the memorial constitutes only a portion of what was intended to be a much larger scheme. Soon after the close of the war a Peace Celebration Committee was formed at the instigation of the then Mayor of the borough now Sir L. Stanley Johnson M.P. When the Committee got to work it was discovered that a local organisation had already been established under the title of the Disabled Soldiers’ and Sailors’ Foundation, to provide suffering soldiers and sailors with comfortable and inexpensive homes, including expert medical and surgical care. The Peace Celebration Committee unanimously decided to adopt the scheme of this organisation as the War memorial for the borough, and an effort was started with a view of raising £50,000 for this purpose. Negotiations were entered into for the purchase of land for these homes in the neighbourhood of Walthamstow; but many of their friends felt that as these dwellings in that outside district would be seen by comparatively few of the residents of Hackney it was desirable that some tangible memorial should be provided in the borough itself, and that it should assume a monumental form. As a matter of fact many of the contributions made to the Peace Celebration Fund were specifically ear-marked by the donors for that object
Plan for Homes Modified
Unfortunately, the £50,000 aimed at was not secured, with the result that a very much modified scheme of buildings for the sufferers to whom reference had been made had to be considered, so that instead of the original plan being carried out in the neighbourhood of Walthamstow, a less pretentious undertaking, it was hoped, would shortly be accomplished in the neighbourhood of Wattisfield-road, Millfields. Many and various designs were submitted for the monumental memorial and it was finally and unanimously resolved to accept the designs of the monument that was before them that day. The designer and sculptor was Mr Hermon Cawthra, of Clapham Common, and he was awarded the prize of twenty guineas offered for the best approved design
Following the singing of the hymn “O God our Help in ages past” the Rector of Hackney offered special prayer, and the gathering joined in the Lord’s Prayer.
Unveiling by V.C.’s
The guard of honour then presented arms as the two V.C.’s unveiled the monument. Before releasing the covering Union Jack they repeated together the following words:
“We unveil this memorial in memory of our brethren of this borough who laid down their lives in the Great War”
Following the dedication the Bishop gave a brief address in the course of which he remarked that it was for him a very special privilege and high honour to be asked to dedicate that war memorial and he would express his thanks to the Committee not only for that but also for the choice they had made of the site on which the memorial should stand. That public garden had for many years been maintained by the borough authority for the use and recreation of the people and the memorial faced the old church of Hackney which during those years of war was so associated with all the great happenings of that time. Two of those events which would always be in his mind occurred during his time as Rector when one Sunday morning in solemn reverence they came to mourn for those heroes of the 10th (Hackney) Battalion London Regiment and then on another Sunday morning, as Hackney citizens in that church, they bade farewell and wished that other Hackney regiment the 189th Battery Field Artillery good luck in the name of the Lord. And now they had come to the last page in the local history of the Great War in Hackney. They would say with him, he had little doubt, that the highest and truest way of commemorating those men whom they had lost was to do all that lay in their power to make England for which they died, fit and more worthy of their sacrifice.
A Debt Unpaid and Unpayable
Though that was supremely true that monument would forever remind them of that debt unpaid and unpayable ton those heroes who mad e the great sacrifice – yes, not only to those men but to the men around them that day; the valiant survivors of that conflict for whom conditions of life and conditions of work today were tragically unworthy of their great achievement. For the dead they did not mourn they did not repine; they exalted that day, they saluted them, the heroes of Hackney and they turned again to their own task of citizenship and service.
After the closing hymn “O Valiant Hearts” and the pronouncing of the Benediction the “Last Post” and the “Reveille” were sounded by the Boy Scout buglers.
Everyone joined in the singing of the Doxology and the ceremony concluded with the National Anthem played by the massed bands
Floral Tributes
Subsequently a beautiful wreath in the form of a regimental badge from the officers, N.C.O.’s and men of the 10th Battalion London Regiment was placed at the foot of the monument by the senior N.C.O. now serving with the Battalion and an ex-private who served with the Battalion in the war.
Another beautiful wreath in the form of a red cross was placed there by the Hackney and Stoke Newington Division of the British Red Cross Society while numerous floral tributes were piled around the base of the monument by relatives of the fallen.

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Inscription:

To the Glory of God and to the Honoured Memory of the Men of this Borough Who made the Supreme Sacrifice during the Great War of 1914-1918. To the Glory of God and to the Honoured Memory of the Men of this Borough Who made the Supreme Sacrifice during the Second World War 1939-1945 REVERSE SIDE - The houses// in Wattisfield Road/ Millfields/ erected for the use of Disabled Sailors and Soldiers/ are a further tribute from the Borough/ to the Memory of the Fallen

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Listing grade:

Grade II (England)

Listing URL:

https://www.historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1391701

Unique listing reference number:

1391701

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