Manchester Cenotaph
Manchester
Lancashire, England
M2 5PD
The St Peter’s Square war memorial in Manchester, designed by Lutyens and unveiled in 1924, is a Portland‑stone cenotaph with recumbent figure, twin obelisks and a Stone of Remembrance on a coved‑base platform, set within a later memorial garden on the former church site but visually compromised by tram catenary wires.
Please log in to view the description, bibliography, and record details.
Description
Cenotaph with recumbent figure, two obelisks and War Stone, all raised on a platform with a coved base. Portland stone. Contractor Nine Elms Stone Masonry Works. Cost £6,490. Unveiled by Earl of Derby with Mrs Binge (local resident who had lost three sons) 12 July 1924. Setting somewhat spoilt by catenary wires for Manchester’s tram system. (Skelton, 2008, Appendix 1)
St Peter’s Square. St Peter’s Church was built on the edge of the town in 1788–94 by James Wyatt and demolished in 1907. On the site a memorial garden designed by L.C. Howitt and dedicated in 1949, which incorporated a Portland stone cross by Temple Moore, 1908, commemorating the church, and the Portland stone cenotaph by Lutyens, 1924, similar to the one in Whitehall. (Hartwell et al, 2005, p.332)
Bibliography
Gliddon, G. and Skelton, T.J. (2008) Lutyens and the Great War. London: Frances Lincoln.
Hartwell C, Hyde M & Pevsner N (2005) Lancashire: Manchester and the South East. The Buildings of England. New Haven: Yale University Press.
,