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Dunbar Grammar School

 The Dubar Grammar School war memorial comprises cast bronze plaque commemorating pupils of Dunbar Grammar School killed in World War I. The plaque is designed in the form of a long scroll clutched by a hand at its top, with the hand flanked by flags in a ‘dipped’ position. The design on the main section of the plaque displaying the names is cast in low relief, with the top of the scroll, the hand and the flags modelled in much deeper relief. The plaque measures 1.86m in height and by 0.88m in width and is situated on an exterior wall near the entrance to the present school building. The bronze piece was relocated from the school’s original site at Woodbush to the then new Dunbar Grammar School in the late 1960s. When the school was rebuilt in 2007, the plaque was moved to its present site.

In 2024, conservation and repair works were carried out with a grant of £1,100 from War Memorials Trust Grants Scheme. Over the past century, the plaque has developed an attractive dark green patina as would have been anticipated by the designer. However, the surface condition of the memorial had deteriorated, becoming coarse and rough with a white deposit developing. This was in part due to weathering and deposition of soiling materials. Consequentially the inscription and names had become difficult to read.

It was agreed that the memorial would be cleaned in-situ and, in line with the best conservation practice principle of minimum intervention, the original specification of works proposed was to restore the surface using bronze brushes only to clean and polish the natural patina, working across the plaque gradually to obtain a more polished, stable surface. However once treatment started it became evident that the main problems appeared to be the result well-intentioned historic repairs using acrylic resins and artistic pigments and that a more interventionalist approach would be rquired. Consequentially careful chemical cleaning was proposed which involved the limited use of organic isopropanol and acetone. This case demonstrates how it is not always possible to fully understand the extent of required works until they begin and, the importance of War Memorials Trust working with custodians and specialist conservators to ensure best conservation practice is followed throughout the course of a project. When the plaque had been cleaned and the patina polished to the agreed appearance, it was washed and dried to remove any dusty residues, and then treated with a protective microcrystalline wax which will help to protect the bronze and the patina against future weathering.

The plaques dedication inscription reads:

1914 1919 In Memory of the Former Pupils Who Fell During The Great War

Further information

War Memorials Trust reference WM12203
UK National Inventory of War Memorials:

War Memorials Trust: WMO/281214

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

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