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Helensburgh

The category A listed Helensburgh war memorial consists of a number of elements. The rubble walls of the walled garden of the former Hermitage House enclose the site. At the widened opening double ironwork commemorative gates form the main access o the garden. The memorial monument stands on a stepped base in the upper half of the walled garden layout. Both monument and base are constructed largely of sandstone. At the lower level the memorial is square in plan and is inset with pink granite plaques on the front and size faces containing the Rolls of Honour from the First and Second World Wars. At the upper level a three stepped based with four large urns with stylised eternal flames is surmounted by an arcaded rotunda, which is capped with a dome with open crown with gilded four armed cross. South of the memorial is a long rectangular reflecting pool with grotto-type water feature. 

Between the years 2015-2017 War Memorials Trust offered grants totalling £78,550 for conservation and repair works. Each element of the memorial required specialist repair and conservation works to address the deterioration of different materials. The grant funding supported works to re-point and repair stonework on both the monument and the surrounding wall. Additional works to the monument include cleaning of the stonework to remove biological growth, soiling and small areas of graffiti. The bronze elements were cleaned and protected with an application of wax. Selected section of the incised inscriptions were deepened and sharped and the inscriptions were repainted to improve the legibility. The cracked flashings at the base of the rotunda were replaced on a like for like basis. The cross finial was regilded and the corroded fixing was removed and replaced with a stainless steel dowel to secure the cross. Repairs have ensured that the reflection pool is watertight whilst the peeling paint and corrosion has been removed from the entrance gate. Repairs to the ironwork were undertaken before the gates were re-painted.

Helensburgh war memorial was officially unveiled on 25 June 1922. It came about as a result of a Special Urgency Meeting of the Town Council held on 15 November 1918 had resolved to raise funds for a Burgh Memorial, and at a meeting held on 7 March 1919 it was agreed that the most suitable site was that suggested by local artist and town councillor J Whitelaw Hamilton. An architectural competition was launched for a design and this was won by Hamilton’s brother-in-law, Alexander Nisbet Paterson.

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM4557
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 5964

War Memorials Online: WMO116784

If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org

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