Cenotaph, Rochdale

Yesterday week Mr Thomas, the chief assistant to Sir Edwin L Lutyens, who is now on his way home from India, attended a consultation with the Rochdale War Memorial Sub-Committee to discuss the four sites suggested and the nature of the design for the memorial. For the moment the question of site remains in abeyance. Meanwhile Sir Edwin Lutyens is asked to prepare three designs - one for the site facing the Town Hall, a second for the Slopes site opposite the Presbyterian Church, and a third for the Corn Mill site. [Building News  23 January 1920 p66]

After much deliberation, the Town Hall site was chosen, and the cenotaph was unveiled on 26 November 1922 by the Earl of Derby. It differs from the cenotaphs at Whitehall and Manchester in that the material used was Cornish granite rather than Portland stone, and instead of the rectangular clean lines of the central pier, Lutyens replaced the short ends with semi-columns. In front of the cenotaph is a Stone of Remembrance, the large oblong sarcophagus Lutyens incorporated in many of the War Cemeteries he designed in France and Belgium. The overall cost was £12,611 and the builder was Hobson Ltd of Nottingham. Lutyens originally recommended that the cenotaph be surrounded by lawns and buildings on three sides, but of the buildings, only the Post Office was built. [Richard Fletcher]

 Reference           Building News  23 January 1920 p66