Building Name

Dalton Memorial, Ardwick Cemetery, Manchester

Date
1854 - 1855
District/Town
Ardwick, Manchester
County/Country
GMCA, England
Architect
Work
Memorial
Status
Demolished

THE DALTON MEMORIAL - The committee assembled yesterday in the Town Hall, Mr Alderman Neill, its chairman presiding; and the other members of the committee present being the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of Manchester, B Nicholls Esq, mayor of Manchester; and Messrs J C Harter, Thomas Bazley, G Faulkner, Joseph Heron, town clerk, Bunyon, Carlisle, Butterworth, A Neild and J A Nicholls, honorary secretaries J P Aston and J Harland.

The chairman laid before the committee drawings and a neat model elevation of a design by Mr Richard Lane, architect, for a low monumental tomb-erection over the grave of Dalton. This was about ten feet long, 7 feet wide, and 3 feet in height; and in his explanatory letter accompanying the plan and model, Mr Lane stated that the size of the ground allotted being 21 feet square, it should be inclosed by an appropriate iron railing, leaving a space between it and the lower slab of the design of 3 feet 3 inches at each end and 7 feet on each side. The erection may be described a low table tomb; but the upper surface is not flat, but slightly coped, and the centre of its ridge is again flattened by a long label, upon which is to be deeply cut the name JOHN DALTON. The base is a slab, slightly coped from the plinth; and a few simple mouldings carry the upper coped slab. From its being only 3 feet above the level of the ground, the spectator will look down upon the simple name of the philosopher of Manchester. The design is chaste, elegant and simple and seemed to find general approval of the committee. It was resolved AThat the design now submitted, modelled on the plan submitted by Mr Lane be adopted; and that it be executed in polished red Aberdeen granite.” It was also resolved that, as so much of the general effect will depend on the character of the railing surrounding the monument AMr Lane be requested to furnish a design for such railings.” it was further resolved, AThat for the purpose of carrying out the above resolutions into effect, the following gentlemen be appointed a sub-committee: The Lord Bishop, the chairman, Mr J C Harter, and the honorary secretaries.” [Manchester Guardian 14 January 1854 page 7]

The cost of monument over the grave of Dalton, which the committee had already ordered, would be £125. [Manchester Guardian 25 March 1854 page 8]

THE DALTON MONUMENT IN THE ARDWICK CEMETERY - It will be in the recollection of our Manchester readers, that the Dalton Testimonial Fund was ultimately appropriated to three objects - the founding of scholarships in Owens College, the placing of a bronze statue in the Infirmary esplanade, and the substitution for the plain flagstone over the grave of the venerable philosopher, of a simple but graceful and appropriate monument. This monument has been erected within the last few days, and cannot fail by its substantial and massive character, and a certain classical simplicity of form, and freedom from sculptured ornamentation, to give satisfaction to the subscribers and admirers of Dalton, - as fitting and appropriate to his own character and that of his discoveries. The material solely employed is the finest red Aberdeen granite, carefully selected for purity and uniformity of colour, and well-polished. The form of the tomb is that of the sarcophagus, not in its older Egyptian, but in its more elegant and refined Greek proportions. It consists of three stages or divisions, a massive base, 10 feet by 7 feet 6 inches, an unadorned plinth and a coping or cover stone, elegantly moulded, with its upper surface sloping like a double roof from a central ridge, - this ridge being obliterated in the centre by a tablet or slab for the simplest of all inscriptions, the name alone. The whole of the upper stone and inscription slab is in one solid block of granite, 7 feet 6 inches by 4 feet 6 inches and 14 inches in thickness. The letters JOHN DALTON on the slab are 3 inches high and cut to the depth of dths of an inch. The monument altogether is only 3 feet in height. The design is by Mr Richard Lane, architect, of this city; the blocks were not only hewn, but squared, shaped and polished at Aberdeen; and the whole has been put together and fixed by Mr Buxton of this city. The monument is to be protected by an iron palisading, enclosing a flagged area of 21 feet square, with the tomb in its centre, and this also has been designed by Mr Lane; but the railings cannot be placed for a few weeks to come. It consists of four square pillars, or cast-iron uprights, at the corners, their panels filled with a continuous pattern of the holly leaf and berry in slight relief. The railings are fixed upon an iron curb of 12 inches depth, secured into the angle pillars. The railings are double, all of round bars; the taller ones, 4 feet high, terminating in a pear-shaped knob, and the shorter ones (technically named dog rails) 2 feet high, being intermediate to the others, so as to leave no space for a dog to pass through. A horizontal rail supports these, and at the intersection are cubes with circular bosses. When the railing encloses the monument, the effect of the whole will be exceedingly good; a too near view of the sarcophagus preventing its proportions being duly appreciated. The committee, in this part of their duties, no less than in the foundation of Dalton scholarships in Owens College, have earned the thanks, not only of the subscribers, but of the community generally, and of a still larger public. [Manchester Guardian 5 May 1855 page 7]

First a monument erected over the grave was one in May last when an elegant Grecian sarcophagus of Aberdeen granite in three stages, three feet in height, was erected, and surrounded by an appropriate palisading, enclosing an area of 21 square feet. This sarcophagus bore simply the name of the venerable and illustrious man "JOHN DALTON.” [Manchester Guardian 27 July 1855 page 4].

Reference    The Builder 1854 Page 36
Reference    Manchester Guardian 14 January 1854 page 7
Reference    Manchester Guardian 25 March 1854 page 8
Reference    Manchester Guardian 5 May 1855 page 7
Reference    Manchester Guardian 27 July 1855 page 4