Gateshead, Gateshead East Cemetery, Cross of Sacrifice

HER Number:
7413

District:
Gateshead

Site Name:
Gateshead, Gateshead East Cemetery, Cross of Sacrifice

Place:
Gateshead

Map Sheet:
NZ26SE

Class:
Commemorative

Site Type: Broad:
Commemorative Monument

Site Type: Specific:
War Memorial

General Period:
Modern

Specific Period:
C20

Form of Evidence:
Structure

Description:
Unveiled 11th April 1924. A 21 feet high Cross of Sacrifice of Blomfield design with a bronze crusader's sword on the front of the cross. Octagonal plinth on a semi-circular platform. Maintained by the War Graves Commission. DESCRIPTION / STATEMENT OF SIGNIFICANCE The memorial is described as an Imperial Great War Cross, and was erected by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. It is dedicated to the soldiers and sailors buried in the cemeteries of Gateshead. The inscription reads: ‘TO THE HONOURED MEMORY OF/ ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY ONE SAILORS AND/ SOLDIERS WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR/ THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914 - 1918/ OF WHOM ONE HUNDRED AND EIGHT ARE/ BURIED IN EAST CEMETERY AND FIFTY THREE/ IN SALTWELL CEMETERY BOTH IN THE/ BOROUGH OF GATESHEAD./ THEIR NAME LIVETH FOR EVERMORE.’ A 21’ Darley Dale stone cross, featuring a fine bronze sword and standing on an 8 sided plinth, it was unveiled by Lieutenant-Colonel A Henderson CMG, the ex-commanding officer of the 9th DLI, and dedicated by Canon H S Stephenson, Rector. Each war memorial is, of course, of significance in itself, in commemorating the people who died in the local area, and whose family may well still live nearby. Perhaps what distinguishes this memorial, however, is its starkness, making a poignant statement of the loss of life it commemorates, and its loftiness, which makes it a landmark structure and thus conveys its message to a wide audience. MATERIALS Darley Dale stone, bronze DATES Unveiling 11/04/1924 LOCAL LIST

Easting:
2610

Northing:
6242

Grid Reference:
NZ26106242

Lats/Lons:

Sources:
Gateshead Council Local List Fact Sheet X20/LL/031; Ian Ayris, Peter Jubb, Steve Palmer and Paul Usherwood, 1996, A Guide to the Public Monuments and Sculpture of Tyne and Wear, p 64; North East War Memorials Project (www.newmp.org.uk) G39.16; Newcastle Daily Journal 12th April 1924; John Oxberry, n.d., "Gateshead in the Great War" (held by Gateshead Library); War Graves of the British Empire; United Kingdom National Inventory of War Memorials www.ukniwm.org.uk