Object Details

Peace Memorial

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Makers
General Information
Classification
Object Parts
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History
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Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright for Photograph:

Creative Commons

Location

Street:Sea Road
Town:Bexhill on Sea
Parish:Bexhill on Sea
Council:Rother District Council
County:East Sussex
Postcode:TN40
Location on Google Map
Object setting:Outside building
and in:Religious
Access is:Public
Location note:Set into the perimeter wall of the Church of St. Mary Magdalene
In the AZ book:East Sussex
Page:145
Grid reference:L1
The A-Z books used are A-Z East Sussex and A-Z West Sussex (Editions 1A 2005). Geographers' A-Z Map Company Ltd. Sevenoaks.
OS Reference:TQ746076

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Makers

Name :Borough Mayor George Gray
     Role:Designer

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General Information

Unveiling date:02/11/1919
Work is:Extant
Owner custodian:St. Mary Magdalene Church. Bexhill on Sea.
Object listing:Not listed
Description:Three steps leading into an archway. On the back wall is a crucifix on a rectangular pedestal. Under the arms of the crucifix, bronze plaques, holding the names of the fallen, are attached to the wall. To the left and right of the crucifix are smaller bronze plaques holding dedicatory prayers. The front of the pedestal is inscribed. Above the archway is a carved figure representing the pelican feeding blood to its young (the emblem of the Rosminians). Underneath the emblem is carved 'Caritas'. The arch is built into the perimeter stone wall of the church driveway.
Inscription:Bronze plaques are affixed to the wall beneath the arms of the crucifix on which are inscribed the names of the fallen.

To the left of the crucifix, bronze plaque affixed to wall:

BENEATH THE ARMS OF
THEIR SAVIOUR
ARE NAMES OF SOME
WHO LAID DOWN THEIR
LIVES FOR THEIR FRIENDS.

To the right of the crucifix, bronze plaque affixed to wall:

''ETERNAL REST GIVE UNTO
THEM O LORD, AND LET
PERPETUAL LIGHT SHINE
UPON THEM. MAY THEY
REST IN PEACE. AMEN.''

On the bronze crucifix base:

GREATER LOVE THAN THIS NO
MAN HATH, THAT A MAN LAY
DOWN HIS LIFE FOR HIS FRIENDS.

Above the arch carved into the stone and painted green:

C a r i t a s

Carved into the stone base of the memorial:

ERECTED
IN
THANKSGIVING
FOR PEACE AND
IN PIOUS MEMORY OF
THE FALLEN
1914 RIP 1918

On face at the top of the stone base, between floral design roundels:

A M D G

Inscription on the back of the Memorial, inscribed letters:

BELGAE, PER MAGNUM BELLUM
E PATRIA EXPULSI
HANC IN URBEM ACCEPTI
[HUNC] LAPIDEM EXTRUI CURAVERUNT
UT MEMORES SE OSTENDERENT
TUM HOSPITUM QUI SUSTENTATIONI
CORPORUM [ET] ANIMARUM SALUTI
BENEFICI PROVIDEBANT
TUM CIVIUM SUORUM QUI
INTERIERUNT IN TERRA ALIENA
ANNO DOMINI MCMXX

MEMENTO IN ORATIONIBUS TUIS DEFUNCTORUM
QUORUM NOMINA HIC INSCRIBUNTUR:
EDOUARD ALLARD 9th JANUARY 1915
GERTRUDE GULP 13th JANUARY 1919
PAUL MALHERBE 26th JANUARY 1915
MARGUERITE MALHERBE 5th JUNE 1915
GUSTAVE MALLSOUX 3rd FEBRUARY 1915

R.I.P.

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Classification

Categories:Sculptural, Religious, Commemorative
Object type1:War memorial
Object type2:Cross
     Object subtype1:World War I
Subject type1:Figurative
     Subject subtype1:Full-length

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Object Parts

Part 1:Pedestal
     Material:Stone
     Height (cm):90
     Width (cm):120
     Depth (cm):58
Part 2:Decorative archway
     Material:Stone
     Height (cm):470
     Width (cm):370
     Depth (cm):155
Part 3:Crucifix
     Material:Bronze
     Height (cm):186
     Width (cm):80
     Depth (cm):20

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Object Condition

Overall condition:Good
Risk assessment:No known risk
Condition 1 of type:Surface
     Condition 1: Corrosion, deterioration
     Condition 2: Metallic staining
     More details:Stonework inside the arch stained underneath the bronze placks and the crucifix. The long inscription on the back wall of the monument is severely weather worn and indecipherable.
Condition 2 of type:Structural
     Condition 1: Cracks, splits, breaks, holes
     More details:At the front, lower part of the arch, the stonework is crumbling and broken away.
Date of on-site inspection:15/10/2007

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History

History:AMDG stands for Ad Majorem Dei Gloriam, the motto of the Society of Jesus or the Jesuits as they are commonly known. Translated means 'For the greater Glory of God'.
The Church itself was opened on 24 October 1907 and finally consecrated in September 1913. The Peace Memorial was the first public war memorial created in Bexhill.

Translation of the latin inscription to the rear of the monument: BELGIANS, DRIVEN FROM THEIR HOMELAND BY THE GREAT WAR, BEING WELCOMED INTO THIS CITY, HAD [THIS] STONE ERECTED TO SHOW THAT THEY REMEMBERED BOTH [THEIR] HOSTS, WHO KINDLY PROVIDED FOR THE NOURISHMENT OF THEIR BODIES AND THE SALVATION OF THEIR SOULS, AND THEIR FELLOW CITIZENS, WHO DIED IN A FOREIGN LAND IN THE YEAR OF OUR LORD 1920. REMEMBER IN YOUR PRAYERS THE DEAD WHOSE NAMES ARE INSCRIBED HERE:

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References

Source 1 :
     Title:'St. Mary Magdalene Church: A Bexhill on Sea Beacon for 100 Years'
     Type:Book
     Author:Ratcliffe, Frank
     Page:23
     Publisher:St. Mary Magdalene Church. Bexhill on Sea


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Photographs





Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons




Author: Anthony McIntosh
Copyright: Creative Commons

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