Last week the war memorial in the churchyard of St Mary’s had a thorough clean, bringing the stone back to its original gleaming cream colour, a vast improvement to its previous grey. It is the first time in 15 years that it has been cleaned and now the names carved in the base are much clearer and easier to read. The damaged base and steps across the flower bed are also due to be repaired.
The work is being carried out by stonemason Elliot Brotherton of eB Sculpture who has worked previously on the memorial, the church and on the Camber Road memorial to early WW1 military flyers in the east of Rye. He used a specialist superheated steam system that draws out the staining while shielding the stone’s natural protective patina, and has been used to clean many memorials, including the Cenotaph.
Elliot Brotherton explained: “All open, defective joints will now be repointed using a traditional lime mortar blended with sands to achieve a close match to the existing mortar. A damaged tread was cut out and replaced using matching Portland limestone, as well as a large indent repair to a separate tread. New tread stones are also to be laid at the very base of the memorial. Work is on going this week. We have not only maintained the war memorial, but also work on St Mary’s church. We recently won an award from the Sussex Heritage Trust for the restoration of it throughout the years.”
The repair is the initiative of Colonel Anthony Kimber PhD as President of Rye and District Branch of the Royal British Legion (Rye RBL), and acting on behalf of St Mary’s church, Rye Town Council, and Rother District Council. Almost 200 members of the Rye community from both world wars, and the Gulf and Iraq wars, have names recorded on the memorial.
The cost is estimated to be around £2800 and funds have been raised from St Mary’s Parochial Church Council, Rye Town Council and Rye Conservation Society with donations from individuals including locally retired judges, the Hon Brian Barker and Dame Anne Barker, and the Kimbers.
The flower beds surrounding the base of the memorial have been given a new lease of life with colourful planting by volunteers Julia and Andrew Guainiere from Church Passage, who have also brightened up the area around the church door.
Tony Edwards’ grandfather, William Edwards, is one of the names on the memorial. “After being decorated in WW1, he sadly lost his life in WW2. He was walking home after getting his newspaper and was caught in fire from a lone German fighter. He died three days later in Rye hospital.
“The memorial is still a special place for many Rye families, there are many well-known and familiar Rye names on there. Thank you to all involved in organising and those who cleaned it. I look forward to watching the wreaths being laid in November and being able to see clearly the names of all those who gave their all for our freedom.”
The memorial, grade II listed in 2018, was completed in 1919 and designed by architect Reginald Blomfield who was responsible for war memorials for the Imperial War Graves Commission. He also designed the impressive Menin Gate at Ypres in Belgium, along with houses around Rye – in Point Hill, Church Square and Saltcote Place, Playden.
Image Credits: Tony Edwards , Colonel Anthony Kimber , Juliet Duff .
Looks amazing – a brilliant renovation for this year 80 year anniversary.Well done all involved and thank you.
Very good to see, and an excellent job. It is sobering to read all the names on our War Memorials. Especially when you see multiples of the same surname. Brothers, cousins, fathers and sons, how devastating their sacrifice must have been on their families.
Out of curiosity, maybe some knows if there are any women named on the Rye War Memorial, and are there any who should be added to it?
Rod, just to confirm that while we were cleaning it we noticed there are women (Mrs) in the WW2 section
Congratulations for a project showing continuing respect for the self sacrifice of all those named