London Assurance War Memorial

Description

The most vulnerable type of war memorials are those erected by companies because they are exposed to the whims of corporate takeovers and mergers which are often accompanied by office relocations. Whilst the memorials will be usually (but not always) respected, they can cause problems because no-one knows what to do with them for the best. One solution that has been offered in recent years is for them to be relocated to the National Memorial Arboretum in Cheshire, which was the fate of this simple memorial, the smallest that Lutyens designed.

It was originally sited in the porch of London Assurance’s headquarters at 1 King William Street in London but, following a merger with Sun Alliance, was moved to their offices in Ledsham (Cheshire). A further merger saw the creation of Royal and Sun Alliance in 1996 and the consequent sale of Ledsham and the relocation of the memorial to the National Memporial Arboretum, where it was rededicated by the Bishop of Liverpool on 3 September 1999. It was originally mounted in a cloister with other similar memorials but is now in storage.

The memorial was originally unveiled by the Governor of the Corporation on 19 July 1922. (Contributor: Tim Skelton)

Bibliography

Also Cited In

Imperial War Museum. London Assurance Staff WW1 Plaque [Online] Available from: https://www.iwm.org.uk/memorials/item/memorial/18256

Listing Grade

N/A

Listing Reference

Client