Manchester War Memorial
Cooper Street, Manchester
Listed on the National Heritage List for England. Search over 400,000 listed places
Overview
- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1270697
- Date first listed:
- 03-Sep-1974
- List Entry Name:
- Manchester War Memorial
- Statutory Address:
- Cooper Street, Manchester
Location
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- Reference:
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- © Mr Peter Sargeant. Source: Historic England Archive
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- Heritage Category:
- Listed Building
- Grade:
- II*
- List Entry Number:
- 1270697
- Date first listed:
- 03-Sep-1974
- Date of most recent amendment:
- 06-Jun-1994
- List Entry Name:
- Manchester War Memorial
- Statutory Address 1:
- Cooper Street, Manchester
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
The scope of legal protection for listed buildings
This List entry helps identify the building designated at this address for its special architectural or historic interest.
Unless the List entry states otherwise, it includes both the structure itself and any object or structure fixed to it (whether inside or outside) as well as any object or structure within the curtilage of the building.
For these purposes, to be included within the curtilage of the building, the object or structure must have formed part of the land since before 1st July 1948.
Location
- Statutory Address:
- Cooper Street, Manchester
The building or site itself may lie within the boundary of more than one authority.
- District:
- Manchester (Metropolitan Authority)
- Parish:
- Non Civil Parish
- National Grid Reference:
- SJ8397498022
Summary
First World War memorial, 1924, by Sir Edwin Lutyens with later additions for the Second World War.
Reasons for Designation
Manchester War Memorial is listed at Grade II* for the following principle reasons: * Historic interest: as an eloquent witness to the tragic impacts of world events on this community, and the sacrifices it made in the conflicts of the C20; * Architect: by the nationally renowned architect Sir Edwin Landseer Lutyens (1869-1944), who designed extant 58 memorials at home and abroad including the Cenotaph in Whitehall; * Design: among the more ambitious of Lutyens’ eight cenotaph memorials, here incorporating obelisks and a War Stone; * Group value: with a number of listed assets, notably the Grade-I listed Town Hall.
History
Only when prompted by the British Legion in 1922 was a War Memorial Committee formed in Manchester. After much debate about where a memorial was to be located, and the choice almost by default of St Peter’s Square, Lutyens was appointed (but again, only after local wrangling) as architect. The project then proceeded smoothly, with concerns about the incongruously close proximity of Temple Moore’s memorial cross to the demolished St Peter’s church being set aside.
The memorial, constructed by Nine Elms Stone Masonry Works of London, cost £6,940. It was unveiled on 12 July 1924 by the Earl of Derby with Mrs Dingle, a local resident who had lost three sons in the war. In 1949 the dates of the Second World War were added to the obelisks and the surrounding area was dedicated as a garden of remembrance. In 2014 the cenotaph was relocated (and turned through 90 degrees) to a new memorial garden aligned with the southern entrance to the Grade I-listed Town Hall.
Sir Edwin Lutyens OM RA (1869-1944) was the leading English architect of his generation. Before the First World War his reputation rested on his country houses and his work at New Delhi, but during and after the war he became the pre-eminent architect for war memorials in England, France and the British Empire. While the Cenotaph in Whitehall (London) had the most influence on other war memorials, the Thiepval Arch was the most influential on other forms of architecture. He designed the Stone of Remembrance which was placed in all Imperial War Graves Commission cemeteries and in some cemeteries in England, including some with which he was not otherwise associated.
Details
The memorial, of Portland stone, comprises a cenotaph, two flanking obelisks, and a war Stone all on a slightly raised, coved, platform. The cenotaph, like that in Whitehall, London, is a pylon in diminishing stages supporting a catafalque on which lies the figure of an Unknown Soldier partly covered in a greatcoat. Beneath, to either side, is a wreath containing the city’s coat of arms; to the front and rear are a sword pendant and Imperial crown. The north-west side of the cenotaph bears the inscription: TO THE/ HONOURED MEMORY/ OF THOSE WHO/ GAVE THEIR LIVES/ FOR THEIR COUNTRY. On the south-east side is inscribed: O LORD GOD OF OUR/ FATHERS KEEP THIS/ FOREVER IN THE/ IMAGINATION OF THE/ THOUGHTS OF THE/ HEART OF THY PEOPLE.
Two obelisks, shorter than the cenotaph, stand to either side. These have swaged garlands to the front. Centrally between them, behind the cenotaph, is a War Stone.
(Formerly listed as War Memorial, ST PETERS SQUARE and previously listed as Cenotaph War Memorial, ST PETERS SQUARE)
This list entry was subject to a Minor Amendment on 28/10/2015
This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 30 January 2017.
Legacy
The contents of this record have been generated from a legacy data system.
- Legacy System number:
- 457622
- Legacy System:
- LBS
Sources
Books and journals
Skelton, T, Gliddon, G, Lutyens and the Great War, (2008), 62-5, 75, 161,173
Websites
War Memorials Online, accessed 30 January 2017 from https://www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/120532
War Memorials Register, accessed 30 January 2017 from http://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/2024
Legal
This building is listed under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 as amended for its special architectural or historic interest.
Map
This map is for quick reference purposes only and may not be to scale. This copy shows the entry on 06-May-2025 at 09:34:12.
Download a full scale map (PDF) (opens in a new window)© Crown copyright [and database rights] 2025. OS AC0000815036. All rights reserved. Ordnance Survey Licence number 100024900.© British Crown and SeaZone Solutions Limited 2025. All rights reserved. Licence number 102006.006.
End of official list entry
