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Bedale
Town or City: Bedale
County: North Yorkshire
Country: England
WMT Reference Number: WM725
Value of grant: £1031.00
Type of memorial: Freestanding
Type of work: Conservation and repair
Grant scheme: English Heritage/Wolfson Foundation Grants
Year: 2002
UKNIWM reference number: 29517
The war memorial in the market town of Bedale in North Yorkshire is an unusual sandstone cross on a pillar, which stands on a plinth and a three-stepped base. The stone is Bolton Wood stone, quarried in West Yorkshire. The cross, a Greek cross - that is a cross with arms of equal length - has the symbols of the four Gospel authors (an ox, a lion, an eagle and an angel) carved relief on the arms of the cross and in the centre is a representation of the Lamb of God. The shaft of the cross has three horizontal bands of Celtic style decoration between which are depicted two figures in relief; the higher of the two is a saint in a toga and the lower of which is St George, dressed as a medieval European knight, standing with his hands on the hilt of his down-pointing sword. The dragon stands behind him. Below these figures is a dedication to the fallen of World War I. The names of the fallen of that conflict are inscribed around the sides of the shaft, listed under the year in which they fell. The names of the fallen of World War II have been added to the plinth. The memorial stands in the churchyard of St Gregory’s.
In 2002/3 English Heritage offered a grant of £1,031 towards work to clean the stonework with water and a natural bristle or nylon brush, to cut back one particular area of decayed stone and rebuild it using a lime-based mortar and to re-point open joints. Work was also done to the lettering; flaking enamel was removed and the letters were re-enamelled in black. Some of the letters needed sharpening before they were re-painted, and this was done with hand tools.
The dedication on the front of the memorial reads:
"To the glory
of God
and to the honoured
memory of the men
from the
parish of Bedale
who gave their lives
for their
kind and country
in the Great War
1914 – 1918
Their name liveth for evermore”
The faculty to build the memorial was granted on 21st April 1920.
Further information
War Memorials Trust reference WM725
UK National Inventory of War Memorials: 29517
If you have a concern about this memorial please contact the Trust on conservation@warmemorials.org
