Memorial to 1st World War at St Peter’s Church, Cleethorpes
(TA305086)
Location
St Peter’s Avenue, the B1374, is the main shopping street of Cleethorpes, North East Lincolnshire. The road runs between High Street, (A1098), and Queens Parade (A1098), and parallel to the sea front, but one block behind it. St Peter’s Church is the Parish Church of Cleethorpes, and is situated between Bowling Lane and Mill Road, to the west side of the street. The memorial consists of a plaque on the east end of the wall, 2 stone troughs, filled with flowers, a second small black granite plaque on a plinth and a churchyard cross. A wrought iron gate, complete with plaque, divides the wall plaque, stone troughs and second plaque from the churchyard cross. All these memorials lie in the churchyard, adjacent to St Peter’s Avenue. On either side of the churchyard, are wooden seats and flower beds. As the church is close to the shopping area, and the seating is often used by weary shoppers to rest their legs. The flower beds are maintained by the local council.
Inscriptions
1. On the eastern wall of the church is a polished black granite plaque, measuring 990mm x 1520mm and 1100mm from the ground. The names are listed alphabetically, no ranks are given and are inscribed in gold leaf in capital letters 20mm high, is a caption thus:
History of St Peter’s Memorial
The St Peter’s memorial was placed there soon after World War 1.
Constructed of York Stone the plaques & churchyard cross consisting of the tribute and names of the fallen, was attached to the outside east wall of the church. A peal of bells was placed in the tower.
On 25th September, 1987, the Mayor & Mayoress of Cleethorpes unveiled a wrought iron barrier, placed in front of York Stone Plaque. This was bought and paid for through the efforts of a local resident and fund raiser, Mr Pete Stacey. He used money raised through his Project 85 shop, to pay for a number of charitable projects including the wrought iron gate, complete with plaque. Later, in1991, he was responsible for replacing the water damaged York Stone Plaques with the new polished granite stone. He raised the necessary funds and a new plaque commissioned from Leakes Masonry in Louth, Lincolnshire was hoisted into place. It was re-dedicated by the rector of Cleethorpes, in the presence of the Mayor and Mayoress of Cleethorpes, on 23 rd August 1991. The flower tubs at the foot of the plaque were also provided by Mr Stacey with money from another Cleethorpes resident.
The current new black granite plaque is in very good condition, and is maintained by Mr Stacey, and the church. The tubs are regularly filled with flowers
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There is a black painted wrought iron gate/railing between the churchyard cross and the wall plaque and the memorial to the war in Korea and Middle East. The railing is 1900mm long x 1100 mm high. There is a plaque on the gate in a white metal, with the words inscribed on it thus :- |
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PRESENTED BY PROJECT 85 (ORIGINATED BY PETE STACEY) FOR THE BEAUTIFICATION OF THE CLEETHORPES WAR MEMORIAL AT ST PETER’S CHURCH IN THE PRESENCE OF THE MAYOR & MAYORESS OF CLEETHORPES, COUNCILLOR AND MRS D J LEAM AND THE RECTOR OF ST PETER’S THE REV B L WISKEN B.A. ON 25 SEPTEMBER 1987.
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THE OFFICIAL PARTY LEFT TO RIGHT:
MR PETE STACEY, REV B.A. WISKEN, MRS LEAM & COUNCILLOR D J LEAM |
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Apart from the above memorials which have inscriptions, the other memorial at St Peter’s is a churchyard cross, which consists of a column approximately 4500mm high, supporting a crucifix. The column stands on a hexagonal plinth of 3 steps. The whole structure is made from grey concrete, which is in good order.
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There is some ornamentation on the cross consisting of a crucifix
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Replacing the old memorial with new on 23rd August 1981
Old and New Stones together
© F. J. Poulton. 2002-4 No part of this website must be used for commercial profit, or reproduced in any form whatsoever without permission from owner
