The
Islington
War Memorial stands at 3 Manor Gardens, Islington, Greater London,
N19 4DD.
In
1919 the Islington Borough Council were at this time considering how
best to provide a worthy memorial to those men and women of Islington
who had lost their lives in the war. At a public meeting held at the
Town Hall, Islington, it was decided that the extension of the hospital
should be their special concern and an Islington War Memorial Fund was
opened for this purpose. The hope was to build a Casualty Department
and new Entrance Archway, where the names of all Islingtonians who fell
in the War would be inscribed. Sir Aston Webb, President of the Royal
Academy, undertook to assess competitive designs to be submitted by
four selected architects.
The
Foundation Stone of the new Casualty Department was laid by Lady Patricia
Ramsay one brilliantly sunny July afternoon in 1923. Work on the building
went ahead so rapidly that itb was ready to be opened before the year
was out. The total cost of the building and equipment was nearly £16,000
of which £12,000 had already been subscribed to the Mayor of Islington's
War Memorial Fund. In addition to casualty rooms, waiting-room and operating
theatre, a Memorial Archway was designed upon which were inscribed the
names of 1,337 Islingtonians who lost their lives in the First World
War. This archway became the entrance for patients to all departments
of the hospital.
On
27th November 1923 the Prince of Wales came to open the new building
and unveiled the names on the memorial archway.
The
memorial is a Grade II listed building and was designed by Percy Adams
FRIBA. It is built in red brick with Portland stone dressings. The arch,
and window over, is all that survive of the casualty department of the
Royal Northern Hospital. The inscribed foundation and dedication stones
at plinth level are set behind rounded granite bollards. The segmental
archway is surrounded by rusticated quoins: above is a 16/9-pane sash
window set within an aedicular surround with a console hood over, while
the cast iron balcony is flanked by palm-enriched volutes. Behind the
iron gates, on either side of the archway, are inscribed Portland stone
walls bearing the names of the borough's 1,337 war dead. On each side
is the inscription 'TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE ISLINGTONIANS WHO MADE THE
SUPREME SACRIFICE IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919'. A separate plaque reads:
'RNH / BOROUGH OF ISLINGTON WAR MEMORIAL / This Building was erected
by Public Subscription raised in the Borough of Islington to commemorate
the Supreme Sacrifice made by those who fell in the Great War and the
brave deeds of those who were spared. / 1914-1919'.
During WW1 the Hospital became a section of the Second London General
Hospital, with 206 beds for wounded and sick servicemen. Despite being
bombed during World War II the hospital kept its doors open and in 1948
joined the newly founded NHS. In 1963 it merged with nearby Whittington
Hospital. The hospital was closed in 1992, and the site redeveloped
by Bellway Homes: the arch was retained as a memorial to the dead of
the borough.
[Details
extracted from "The Royal Northern Hospital 1856-1956"
by Eric C. O. Jewesbury and British
Listed Buildings ]
