Peace Memorial
| Browse information by: Location Makers General Information Classification Object Parts Object Condition History References Photographs |  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: | 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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