Holy Island War Memorial

The Heugh, Holy Island, Northumberland, TD15 2RX

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Overview

First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 1922. Later additions for the Second World War. Read the official list entry to find out more.

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1042308
Date first listed:: 15-May-1986
List Entry Name:: Holy Island War Memorial
Statutory Address:: The Heugh, Holy Island, Northumberland, TD15 2RX

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Date:: 2002-06-25
Reference:: IOE01/07658/16
Rights:: © Mr Kenneth Robinson. Source: Historic England Archive

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Official list entry

Heritage Category:: Listed Building
Grade:: II*
List Entry Number:: 1042308
Date first listed:: 15-May-1986
Date of most recent amendment:: 28-Oct-2015
List Entry Name:: Holy Island War Memorial
Statutory Address 1:: The Heugh, Holy Island, Northumberland, TD15 2RX

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.

For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.

Understanding list entries

Corrections and minor amendments

Location

Statutory Address:: The Heugh, Holy Island, Northumberland, TD15 2RX

The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.

District:: Northumberland (Unitary Authority)
Parish:: Holy Island
National Grid Reference:: NU1263741658

Summary

First World War memorial by Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens, 1922. Later additions for the Second World War.

Reasons for Designation

Holy Island War Memorial, situated on The Heugh, is listed at Grade II* for the following principal reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20; * Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed 58 memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall; * Design quality: a simple yet elegant cross; * Group value: adjacent to the scheduled remains of Lindisfarne Priory and positioned within sight of Lindisfarne Castle (listed Grade I), which was converted to a house in 1902 by Lutyens for Edward Hudson with its registered garden (Grade II) designed by Lutyens and Gertrude Jekyll.

History

The great wave of memorial building after the First World War resulted in thousands of commemorative monuments being raised both at home and on the battlefield. Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens was the most outstanding designer to work in this field. This is one of 15 War Crosses designed by Lutyens, sharing a broadly similar design. The earliest to be erected was at Miserden, Gloucestershire, in 1920; the latest at Station Road, York, in 1925.

In 1902, Lutyens had been commissioned by Edward Hudson to convert the C16 Lindisfarne Castle into a residential property. It is assumed that the commission for the war memorial arose because of the work that Lutyens had undertaken for Hudson. Lutyens donated his services to the War Memorial Committee. The memorial was carved in Doddington stone by Mr Tully of Belford; Lutyens chose this stone to chime with the stone of Lindisfarne Priory. At a well-attended ecumenical service, on 4 June 1922, the memorial was unveiled by Major Morley Crossman DSO and dedicated by Rev WB Hall.

An inscription to commemorate those local servicemen who died fighting during the Second World War was added at a later date. Following storm damage which broke the shaft in the winter of 1983-4, the top of the memorial was replaced.

Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) was the leading English architect of his generation. Before the First World War his reputation rested on his country houses and his work at New Delhi, but during and after the war he became the pre-eminent architect for war memorials in England, France and the British Empire. While the Cenotaph in Whitehall (London) had the most influence on other war memorials, the Thiepval Arch was the most influential on other forms of architecture. He designed the Stone of Remembrance which was placed in all Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries and some cemeteries in England, including some with which he was not otherwise associated.

Details

MATERIALS: Doddington stone.

DESCRIPTION: The memorial comprises the war cross design by Sir Edwin Lutyens, a slender tapering cross c5m tall. The lozenge-sectioned shaft and short cross arms are linked to the base by stop chamfers and cyma moulding. The shaft rises from a three-stage base standing on a low, circular, step.

The principal inscription, incised into the east face of the middle stage of the base reads TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ OUR GLORIOUS DEAD/ 1914 – 1918. On the west face is carved TO THE GLORY OF GOD/ AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF/ OUR GLORIOUS DEAD/ 1939 – 1945. The names of the fallen are carved below on the faces of the lower stage.

The memorial stands on The Heugh, to the south of the ruins of Lindisfarne Priory and overlooking Lindisfarne Castle and the harbour, with the Farne Islands in the distance to the east.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 8 February 2017.

Legacy

The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.

Legacy System number:: 237734
Legacy System:: LBS

Sources

Books and journals
Skelton, T, Gliddon, G, Lutyens and the Great War, (2008), 83
Websites
North East War Memorials Project, Holy Island cross, accessed 22/09/2015 from http://www.newmp.org.uk/detail.php?contentId=7653
War Memorials Online, accessed 8 February 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/219134
War Memorials Register, accessed 01/09/2015 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/33465
Other
"War Memorial Unveiled at Holy Island", The Berwick Advertiser, 9 June 1922, p5.

Legal

This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.