Tottington Cenotaph

Tottington Cenotaph

I had hoped that this monument had the list of all the fallen on it, but it appeared to have the 2 panels removed. Got to admit the many times that I saw it I never recalled any names there. However although it is small it is quite imposing. It is set at the Bury end of the village in the same plot of land as Tottington Hall. This is now a library and other council buildings. I spent many happy hours there. It always had a strange smell. No other library I had been in ever smelled the same. This picture quite possibly "lives" in my nearly midnight blog. I believe the names that should have been inscribed on the monument were published in the Bury Times around 1930. More research. I cannot believe that there is not a copy in the library. This memorial is recorded in the UK War Memorials archive as 438438.

Update:- March 2012

The cenotaph in the late evening sun
The inscription reads:
"We owe more tears to these dead men than time shall see us pay"This appears to paraphrase Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar.


The exact speech by Brutus in Act V:

Are yet two Romans living such as these?
The last of all the Romans, fare thee well!
It is impossible that ever Rome
Should breed thy fellow. Friends, I owe more tears
To this dead man than you shall see me pay.
I shall find time, Cassius, I shall find time.
Come, therefore, and to Thasos send his body:
His funerals shall not be in our camp,
Lest it discomfort us. Lucilius, come;
And come, young Cato; let us to the field.
Labeo and Flavius, set our battles on:
'Tis three o'clock; and, Romans, yet ere night
We shall try fortune in a second fight.

Interestingly this very inscription above appears on many memorials
spread around the UK. A fine sentiment -
but perplexing as he speaks it before his own self inflicted death.

 The pictures below show the two badges allegedly designed by Walter Marsden the sculptor, and also the lamp at the very base of the memorial. I have examined these badges in great detail both from the photographs and in "the flesh" There does not appear to be WM anywhere. The St Annes' Monuments and the Bolton Monuments are both signed.

Rising Sun - regeneration

Dove - Peace

The lamp at the base - slightly damaged I think

The rear of the monument

This is a transcription of the Unveiling of Tottington War Memorial that was printed in the Bury Guardian on the 19th of April 1930. I also have a copy of the Bury Times, which goes into more detail but is harder to read. This will be published too. It includes a list of the fallen.

Tottington War Memorial Unveiled

CROWD AT SOLEMN CEREMONY

FITFUL SHOWERS AMID SUNSHINE

TRIBUTE TO 175 HEROES

Fitful showers of rain between bursts of brilliant sunshine were the prevailing conditions when the Tottington War Memorial was unveiled and the Garden of Remembrance opened on Sunday afternoon.

A vast crowd witness the solemn yet beautiful ceremony which was performed by Coun. Mrs. Margaret Kenyon. Others present were Coun. P. Wallace, Chairman of the Memorial committee; Coun. H. Williams, Chairman of the Urban District Council; Coun. H Harrison, Coun. D Clarkson, Coun. R. Wood, Messrs. H. Holt(clerk to the Council), T Beckett, W.W. Pilling, J. Knowles, T.
Naylor, A Todd, W Marsden M.C., A.R.B.S., A.R.E.C.A., the designer and sculptor. Members of the 5^th Batt. Lancs. Fusiliers attended under Capt. Whowell, and the Tottington Prize Band rendered the hymn accompaniments.

The monument has been designed to convey to the minds of the people the sacrifice made during the Great War by the men of Tottington and District, and that the onlookers shall realise that these men died for them. They gave all they possessed towards the victory which was ultimately achieved. The cross is the chief feature of the memorial, and its broad and simple treatment expresses the idea of a call of duty to serve humanity even unto death.

Looking at the monument from the front, the wreath on the left pier is composed of Flanders' poppies, out of which springs the rising sun. This symbolises that through sacrifice and death comes eternal life. On the opposite pier is a wreath of laurels with a dove in downward flight carrying a sprig of hay, which symbolises that through victory comes peace. There is also the quotation: “We owe more tears to these dead men than time shall see us pay.” These words make us realise that we owe these men a debt of everlasting gratitude.

The arrangement of the Garden of Remembrance is simple and direct, and is designed so as to be open to the public at any time of the day and night, to give a feeling that it is owned by each and every resident in Tottington and district. There will be no railings or gate used, so that it will be an invitation to every one that passes to enter.

The background composed of a privet hedge, takes the form of an alcove , in which the monument is placed, and flowers will only be grown round and near the memorial.

UNVEILING CEREMONY

The proceedings commenced with the singing of the hymn, “ O God, our help in ages past.”

The Rev. D.J. Chappell offered prayer and the Rev A.C. Metcalf read a portion of scripture.

Coun. P. Wallace, the chairman of the Memorial Committee, said: “Today is a memorable day in the history of Tottington and its people. It is not a day for many words, but one of deep gratitude and loving remembrance. Long have we hoped and prayed that the day would come when, as a community, we would dedicate a permanent memorial to the memory of Tottington's honoured sons. That day has come, and so welcome it is with deep thankfulness. Our hope is that this memorial may be counted of deceased soldiers and representatives of Sunday Schools and other institutions with which the men were connected.”

THE FALLEN SOLDIERS

There are no names on the memorial, but the names of the men of the district who lost their lives in the war are inscribed in the Book of Remembrance which will be preserved by the urban district council. They are the following:

Samuel Ainsworth,

C.T.Aldred,

James Aldred,

Arthur Aspinall,

H. Aspinall,

Joshua Bamford,

Harold Barlow (a),

Harold Barlow (b),

Robert Barlow,

William Barlow,

William Barton,

Fred Barnes,

Arthur Bentley,

Joseph Bentley,

Percy Bentley,

R Bentley,

Tom Bentley,

Joseph Hutchinson Bowker,

Arthur Alfred Bowdell,

Samuel W. Boardman,

Andrew Bridge,

Ralph Bridge,

Emmanuel Brooks,

Fred Brooks,

George Robert Brooks,

Harold Brooks,

Harry Brooks,

Harold Warburton Brooks,

Robert Brooks,

William Brooks,

Edgar W Bronskill,

J Bunting,

Giles Burton,

Jack Butterworth,

Edwin Chadwick,

James Edgar Chadwick,

John Nuttall Chadwick,

Fred Collins,

Edwin Collinson,

William Cotton,

Harvey Cowburn,

John Daniel Crane,

Thomas Davies,

Walter Dawes,

John Dawson,

C. Lowden Dearden,

Harry Dearden,

Joseph Dearden,

Frank Dolphin,

J.W. Downham,

Walker Dunn,

Arthur Duxbury,

Tom Earnshaw,

Albert Entwistle,

Arthur Entwistle,

William Arthur Fenton,

Bernard Firth,

Percy Fletcher,

Arthur Forshaw,

James William Forshaw,

George Forrest,

William Gates,

James Gilbert,

John William Gilbert,

D Greenhalgh,

Harry Greenhalgh,

Richard Grimshaw,

Harold Gorge,

Richard Groves,

Reggie Hall,

Richard Hall,

Arthur Halliwell,

William Hamer,

H. Hardman,

Solomon Harrison,

William Harrison,

Samuel Harrison,

Tom Hewitt,

Samuel Hibbert,

G. R. Hitchen,

James Gledhill Hockey,

George Holt,

John Holt,

Tom Holt,

E. Hobson,

James Hooks,

John Leslie Horridge,

Joseph Horrocks,

Charles Willis Howarth,

James Howarth,

Joseph Howarth,

John Howarth,

Robert Howarth,

Arthur Huddlestone,

James H. Hudson,

Arthur Hutchinson,

James Hutchinson,

William Hutchinson,

Francis John Ingram,

William H. Jones,

James E. Johnson,

C. Kay,

Ernest Kay,

Grimshaw Kay,

Harold Kay,

John Kay,

Milton Kay,

Tom Kay,

James Kenyon,

William Kenyon,

George Hartley Kershaw,

John C. King,

David Kipps,

Oswald Peter Lancelot,

Jack Leigh,

William B. Leigh,

William Longworth,

Tom Lonsdale,

Harry Lowe,

R. Lucas?

Irvine Makin,

Albert Cecil Meakes,

Arthur Meleleu,

J. McDonald,

Tom McDonald,

William McEwan,

William Mellwas, Not on the Bury Guardian version

John T. Millington,

Harry Morris

H. Morris,

J. Morris,

George Morris,

William Murfitt,

George Needham,

Joseph Nuttall,

Joseph Whittaker Nuttall,

William Nuttall,

Edgar Orrell,

J. Parkes,

James Parkinson,

Joseph Henry Pollitt,

Joseph Pooley,

Albert Porter,

David S. Queen,

J. Ramsden,

Frank Rigby,

W. P. Roberts,

Frank Rushton,

Fred P. Rushworth,

John F. Scholes,

Thomas Shaw,

James Smethurst,

C. Smith,

Thomas Edward Smith,

Tom Smithie,

William Street,

George Studholme,

W Taylor,

Henry Townson,

Albert Turner,

George Turner,

F. Turner,

Wilfred Unsworth,

G Wallace,

William Henry Walsh,

Robert Wardle,

Harry Gladstone Whittaker,

James Whittaker,

John Whittaker,

T. Wilkins,

Arthur Wilkinson,

Fred Wilkinson,

Frank Wroe,

William Yates,

Robert S. Young

 Please Forward me any additional information. It will be much appreciated. I believe several of the fallen may appear on the Walshaw Memorial.