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Spalding War Memorial

1922 establishments in EnglandBritish military memorials and cemeteriesBuildings and structures completed in 1922EngvarB from September 2019Grade I listed buildings in Lincolnshire
Grade I listed monuments and memorialsMonuments and memorials in LincolnshireSpalding, LincolnshireWar memorials by Edwin LutyensWorks of Edwin Lutyens in EnglandWorld War II memorials in EnglandWorld War I memorials in England
Ayscoughfee Hall Gardens geograph.org.uk 990061
Ayscoughfee Hall Gardens geograph.org.uk 990061

Spalding War Memorial is a First World War memorial in the gardens of Ayscoughfee Hall (pronounced ) in Spalding, Lincolnshire, in eastern England. It was designed by the architect Sir Edwin Lutyens. The proposal for a memorial to Spalding's war dead originated in January 1918 with Barbara McLaren, whose husband and the town's Member of Parliament, Francis McLaren, was killed in a flying accident during the war. She engaged Lutyens via a family connection and the architect produced a plan for a grand memorial cloister surrounding a circular pond, in the middle of which would be a cross. The memorial was to be built in the formal gardens of Ayscoughfee Hall, which was owned by the local district council. When McLaren approached the council with her proposal, it generated considerable debate within the community and several alternative schemes were suggested. After a public meeting and a vote in 1919, a reduced-scale version of McLaren's proposal emerged as the preferred option, in conjunction with a clock on the town's corn exchange building. The total cost of the memorial was £3,500, of which McLaren and her father-in-law contributed £1,000 each; her brother-in-law donated a pair of painted stone flags and the remainder was raised from voluntary subscription, which took until 1922. The memorial consists of a brick pavilion at the south end of the garden and a Stone of Remembrance, both at the head of a long reflecting pool, which incorporates the remains of an 18th-century canal. It was unveiled at a ceremony on 9 June 1922. Lutyens went on to use the style of the pavilion for shelter buildings in several war cemeteries on the Western Front, though none of his other war memorials follow the design and the memorial became relatively obscure. Spalding War Memorial is today a Grade I listed building, having been upgraded when Lutyens's war memorials were declared a "national collection" and all were granted listed building status or had their listing renewed.

Excerpt from the Wikipedia article Spalding War Memorial (License: CC BY-SA 3.0, Authors, Images).

Spalding War Memorial
Love Lane, South Holland

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N 52.783472222222 ° E -0.14927777777778 °
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Love Lane
PE11 2PG South Holland
England, United Kingdom
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Ayscoughfee Hall Gardens geograph.org.uk 990061
Ayscoughfee Hall Gardens geograph.org.uk 990061
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Chain Bridge Forge, Spalding
Chain Bridge Forge, Spalding

Chain Bridge Forge is an early 19th-century blacksmith's workshop, on High Street, Spalding, Lincolnshire, England. The forge, on the south bank of the River Welland, has been transformed into a living museum, where visitors can learn about Spalding's history, blacksmithing and the Forge through displays, guides and videos. There are also opportunities to try blacksmithing, watch demonstrations and buy iron-forged products. The Forge is believed to have been purpose-built as a blacksmith's forge in the first half of the 19th century, when it was owned and run by Francis South. The Forge derives its name from the foot-bridge which crosses the Welland next to the building, and which was originally made of chains. Watercolours by Hilkiah Burgess in the Spalding Gentlemen's Society collection indicate that it was a draw bridge, designed to enable boats and barges to navigate up river from the Wash. At this time there was a working port at Spalding, and the accounts for the period 1850-1860 show that the blacksmith of Chain Bridge Forge was servicing the boats here.In 1899, the forge came into the possession of George Dodd and remained in the family for three generations. During this period, it predominately serviced the community by shoeing horses and doing agricultural repairs. The twentieth century saw a steady decline in the blacksmith's role, and adapting to this change Geoffery Dodd, George Dodd's grandson, spent much of his career designing and building the frames for floats in Spalding's Flower Parade. In the 1980s, as Dodd neared retirement and with the building in a poor state of repair, he approached the South Holland District Council. After two years of discussions, the site was purchased from him by the council for the nominal fee of £1, on 20 September 1988. The building was restored in 1991 with the assistance of English Heritage, by the Spalding builders R. G. Sharman, on behalf of the District Council.In 2011, the Friends of Chain Bridge Forge were formed to lead a new project to turn the Forge into a museum and heritage centre. As part of a campaign to raise awareness of the building and the project, the Friends, with the assistance of South Holland District Council who still own and manage the property, opened the Forge to the public during the Spalding Flower Parade in 2011.