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Udney Park Playing Fields and Pavilion (former)
Condition level:
Good
Fair
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Very bad
Lost/Missing/Temporary
Survey reason:
Personal visit
School visit
Custodian annual maintenance visit
War Memorials Trust staff- site visit
War Memorials Trust staff- casework
War Memorials Trust staff- desk assessment
Can you help? request
Contributor - desk assessment
Comments:
It is inaccurate content to say that because the original internal boards have been removed that the function of Udney Park as a War Memorial has ceased. The entire Park and Pavilion was funded by a War Charity to commemorate the fallen in WW1 from Merchant Taylors School. Those that wish to destroy the Pavilion and build on Udney Park would prefer the status of War Memorial referred only to name-boards, that is simply not the case. On 31st October 1917 a meeting of Old Merchant Taylors (“OMTs”) and parents met at the Merchant Taylors Hall to “consider the most fitting method of perpetuating the memory of OMTs who have fallen in the war”. The meeting resolved “that a Committee be formed for the purpose of inviting donations to a fund to be applied as a lasting and visible record for those OMTs who have fallen in the war” with two purposes: “paying for the education of any son of an OMT who has fallen in the war or has been disabled” and the “erection of a permanent memorial”. On 31st October 1917 a new charity was registered under the War Charities 1916 Act. On 9th Feb 1922 and 13th March 1922, the Fund bought 12 acres of land in Teddington, that was for recreation and allotments that were part of the Udney Park Estate. The land cost £3,257 and a further £4,359 was invested to adapt them to playing fields. Further funds were raised for the Pavilion, which cost £5,058, including a £2,000 loan from the RFU. The “War Memorial Ground” was opened on 27th November 1922 by Viscount Cave, then the Lord Chancellor, and former WW1 Home Secretary. Among those present were two OMT Victoria Cross holders’, A.O. Pollard and J. C. Barrett. 311 fallen OMTs were commemorated. Udney Park is now 99 years old, it was opened as a War Memorial Park and Pavilion and remains one for all time. Pathe News and National Press reported the notable opening of Udney Park at the time in 1922, opened by the WW1 Home Secretary Lord Cave, with the Pavilion featuring in the 1924 Royal Academy Summer Exhibition.It is clear that the entire site is a War Memorial as one of press articles said in 1922: "What a splendid idea that was, the MTS War Memorial Ground. So many things of the kind are either useless or ugly or sometimes both. It comes as a relief to find that OMTs had a far sounder idea, the purchase and equipment of a rugby ground at Teddington" That Udney Park was subsequently bequeathed by Lord Beaverbrook in 1937 adds to its importance as a War Memorial for WW2. Beaverbrook’s intentions remain clear with covenants written in the strongest terms available in Law in 1937, stating that Udney Park must not be used for: “any other purpose than as a sports ground for the playing of games by amateurs, the chief game being amateur rugby union” (Land Registry). Beaverbrook became a pivotal figure in British history. Sensing the threat to Britain, Churchill appointed Beaverbrook to the WW2 cabinet specifically to lead Aircraft Production, which Beaverbrook transformed. After the Battle of Britain, in Churchill’s August 1940 “Never was so much owed by so many to so few” speech, he said in the next paragraph. “The splendid, nay, astounding, increase in the supply of aircraft which Beaverbrook has achieved by a genius for organisation and drive which looks like magic. He deserves the greatest praise from this House and the whole country”. In 1941 Churchill persuaded Beaverbrook, despite his failing health, to stay in the War cabinet and take on all Military Supplies including shipbuilding, writing to Beaverbrook: “I am placing my entire confidence, and to a large extent the life of the state upon your shoulders”.
Survey date:
Is the memorial accessible to the public?
Yes - always
Yes - restricted times
Yes - by appointment
No
Unknown
Has the memorial been subject to any accidental or malicious damage in the last five years?
Yes
No
Unknown
Do you think the site is at significant risk of accidental or malicious damage in the next 2 years?
Yes
No
Unknown
Are there any known planning applications or issues related to this memorial?
None
Current planning application
Previous planning application
Unknown