Memorial could be moved

Councillors are tonight due to discuss the possibility of moving Newark’s Memorial To The Fallen from the cemetery to the parish church.

The memorial is made up of three slabs of black granite that bear the names of 604 men from Newark who died in conflicts, from the first world war through to Afghanistan.

If town councillors agree that the memorial can be moved to St Mary’s Parish Church, the town clerk, Mr Alan Mellor, will consult the Royal British Legion.

The move has been suggested because 2018 will be the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war. Of the names on the Memorial To The Fallen, 457 are from the first world war and 144 from the second.

In his report to the town council finance and general purposes committee, Mr Mellor says the location of the memorial has, to his knowledge, been accepted since 2007 without criticism or comment.

But, Mr Mellor said, bringing it to the centre of town would allow it to be accessed by more people.

If approved, and with permission from church authorities, the memorial could be moved to near the war memorial cross at the rear of the parish church on Appletongate.

The cross is a focal point for wreath-laying during annual Remembrance Sunday commemorations, which take place this weekend, and attract an increasing number of people.

'There is symbolism to it being at the church'

The cost of the Memorial To The Fallen and its siting was £30,000 when commissioned in 2006. The granite was shipped from India and the memorial was unveiled by the actor Richard Todd in 2007.

Mr Mellor said the cost of moving it could be thousands of pounds.

Mr David Nixon, who was Mayor of Newark during the planning for the memorial, described its siting at the London Road cemetery as a pragmatic solution.

“Our first choice would have been to put it by the parish church as that is where the memorial cross is,” he said.

“We half discussed it informally. However, it seemed fraught with issues.

“On a lot of other memorials, such as the one at Norwell that has my uncle’s name on, you see the names engraved at the bottom of the memorial, but that wasn’t possible on the Newark cross because there were just so many.

“We recognised a memorial featuring the names was something people wanted.

“The next question was where shall we put it? The pragmatic solution seemed to be the cemetery because we owned the land.

“In saying that, there is symbolism to it being at the church and it would logical to have it near the cross.”

Mr Nixon said a great deal of thought went into the design and he hoped if it was relocated the memorial would be moved in its entirety.

The tops of the plinths appear broken to represent broken lives and it is set in cobbles because so many of the men named on the memorial mustered on the cobbles of Newark Market Place.

Mr Nixon said it would need to be sympathetically and prominently placed.

'I would not like to think that this is a cynical exercise'

Mr Chris Green was the principal researcher for the names to be included on the Memorial To The Fallen while membership secretary of the Newark branch of the Royal British Legion.

He said he could see nothing wrong with moving it, if it was done properly and was accessible for wheelchairs.

“I would not like to think that this is a cynical exercise in political posturing,” he said.

The chairman of the Newark branch of the Royal British Legion, former Wing Commander John Rush, said: “The appropriateness for it to be at the church is high.”

However, he said expert costings were needed and he feared the bill for moving the memorial could be alarming.

A couple who visit the memorial in the cemetery, Mr Peter and Mrs Judith Parker, oppose its relocation.

They place a palm cross on the memorial in memory of Mrs Parker’s uncle, John Midworth, who was killed at Arnhem in 1944.

“It is in the right place in the cemetery,” Mr Parker said.

“That is the place for it because it is a cemetery.

“It would cost a lot to move it and that would be money wasted. I don’t see the point.”

- The finance and general purposed committee is also being asked to consider the creation of a poppy trail in Newark to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the end of the first world war.

It would be part of a national project to create a Ribbon Of Poppies, or carpet of crimson, from Land’s End to John O’Groats to remember those killed and wounded.