Lambeth memorial restoration to honour war dead

Lambeth Council has this week announced approval of £200,000 funding to refurbish five iconic war memorials in the borough.

They are Kennington Park War Memorial, the memorials in front of St Mark’s Church, Oval, and Holy Trinity Church, Clapham Common, Streatham memorial gardens, and Stockwell, which is the borough’s official memorial.

Councillor Paul McGlone, Lambeth council’s Finance cabinet member, said:

'Capital funding is very tight, but all Lambeth councillors agreed that the £200,000 funding had to be allocated to honour our responsibility to our war memorials in memory of those who have fallen'

'We also owe a debt of gratitude to local people like Naomi Klein, a Stockwell resident, who wrote a book, ‘These Were Our Sons’ to commemorate the memory of the 574 local men whose names are inscribed on Lambeth official War Memorial at Stockwell, as well groups like the Friends of Stockwell Memorial and Friends of Kennington Park for their important role in raising the profile of the need for investment.'

Last year local residents led by the Friends of Kennington Park launched a major fundraising drive which raised more than £2,500 to help clean the Kennington Park War memorial and paint the railings. Upcoming work will help to build on those improvements by seeing stonework expertly cleaned and loose joints fixed. The plans will also see the inscription of battle honours from the Second World War reinstated. Railings around the memorial will also be repaired.

At the Kennington Cenotaph, which is the memorial to the Queen’s London Regiment 24th Battalion, the structure will be underpinned and stonework cleaned. Missing lead letters will also be replaced.

The Stockwell War Memorial will again be cleaned and re-pointed. Using mason’s hand tools, craftsmen will redefine eroded lettering and architectural detailing on the memorial in the middle of busy traffic interchange. Local residents, including Sheila Dartnell and Naomi Klein, have been key champions and dedicated campaigners for the improvement work.

At the Clapham memorial scaffolding will be erected and the monument expertly cleaned using a high-pressure hot water system. Loose stonework will be re-pointed by expert builders. Over 10 square metres of existing concrete paving will be replaced by York stone.

Bronze including the cold cast bronze resin plaque at the Streatham War Memorial will be cleaned.

The works are due to be completed early next year.

The investment has come from the council’s capital investment fund.


Photo: R Sones, Wikimedia Commons