TQ7668 : Chatham Naval Memorial
taken 11 years ago, near to Brompton, Medway, England
Chatham Naval Memorial is a large obelisk situated in Chatham. The memorial is now the main feature of The Great Line Heritage Park.
Chatham was a principal manning port of the Royal Navy during the First World War and thus was dedicated as the site of one of three memorials to sailors of the Royal Navy killed during the conflict but who have no grave.
The other memorials were situated at Portsmouth SZ6398 : Royal Navy War Memorial Link and Plymouth SX4753 : Plymouth Naval Memorial Link . The obelisks were designed by Sir Robert Lorimer and the one at Chatham originally contained 8,515 names.
It is made of Portland stone with bronze plaques in 1920. It has steps up to a plinth with inscription plaques, and projecting corners with reclining lions, beneath a stepped base to the obelisk, which has a stepped top to an elaborate finial with corner ships prows and bronze supports to a ball.
After the Second World War and its consequent loss of life, the decision was made to expand the three memorials and so the Chatham Naval Memorial was created from the 'Chatham Obelisk' and was given a surround designed by Sir Edward Maufe which contains 10,098 additional names from the later conflict. The surround is also made of Portland Stone, with bronze plaques. It has two pavilions; north and south which look out towards Chatham. Along the surround are 4 portland stone statues of sailors.
The Grade II listed. Link and is maintained by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. In May 2016 it was upgraded to Grade I listed.
The Great Lines is over 70 hectares of open space at the heart of Medway. Between Gillingham and Chatham.
The huge expanse of the Great Lines was in its own right a layer of defence to protect Chatham Dockyard from attack.
At its centre is the Chatham Naval War Memorial.
See Link for more details.
War memorials were mainly constructed after WWI to commemorate the troops who gave their lives in the war. Many were then updated after WWII. Some war memorials date back to the Boer War. Almost every town and village in Britain has a War Memorial. They take many forms, the commonest being an obelisk, a cross or statue of a soldier. Some commemorate the inhabitants of a place, some are for schools and others are for companies or Military groupings.
Many memorials are grade II listed, 61 are II* listed, Link*_listed_war_memorials_in_England
& 12 are Grade I listed. Link
A search for memorials can be carried out at Link
Listed buildings and structures are officially designated as being of special architectural, historical or cultural significance. There are over half a million listed structures in the United Kingdom, covered by around 375,000 listings.
Listed status is more commonly associated with buildings or groups of buildings, however it can cover many other structures, including bridges, headstones, steps, ponds, monuments, walls, phone boxes, wrecks, parks, and heritage sites, and in more recent times a road crossing (Abbey Road) and graffiti art (Banksy 'Spy-booth') have been included.
In England and Wales there are three main listing designations;
Grade I (2.5%) - exceptional interest, sometimes considered to be internationally important.
Grade II* (5.5%) - particularly important buildings of more than special interest.
Grade II (92%) - nationally important and of special interest.
There are also locally listed structures (at the discretion of local authorities) using A, B and C designations.
In Scotland three classifications are also used but the criteria are different. There are around 47,500 Listed buildings.
Category A (8%)- generally equivalent to Grade I and II* in England and Wales
Category B (51%)- this appears generally to cover the ground of Grade II, recognising national importance.
Category C (41%)- buildings of local importance, probably with some overlap with English Grade II.
In Northern Ireland the criteria are similar to Scotland, but the classifications are:
Grade A (2.3%)
Grade B+ (4.7%)
Grade B (93%)
Read more at Wikipedia Link