St Cuthbert's Lychgate War Memorial

St Cuthbert's Lychgate War Memorial

This First World War memorial lych gate, with Second World War additions, stands at the entrance to St Cuthbert's Church from Allendale Market Place. Designed by J Landell Nicholson and constructed by Messrs J and W Newman in 1920, it comprises a timber superstructure with a pitched tile roof set upon a dressed sandstone base.

The memorial features a carved wooden cross of St Cuthbert positioned above the outer entrance. The outer faces of the timber sides are decorated with quatre foils. The inner faces are each divided into three panels bearing inscriptions and the names of 22 men from Allendale who fell in the Great War and 2 men who fell in the Second World War.

The overhead arch carries the inscription "FOR GOD KING AND COUNTRY". The centre panel on the left reads: "TO THE GLORY OF GOD AND IN GRATEFUL MEMORY OF MEN FROM THIS PARISH WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THEIR COUNTRY IN THE GREAT WAR 1914-1919 THIS LYCH GATE IS DEDICATED" with names recorded on adjacent panels.

The centre panel on the right bears an extended inscription adapted from the Certificate of Condolence sent to bereaved families under the cipher and coat of arms of King George V: "THEY WHOM THIS LYCH GATE COMMEMORATES WERE NUMBERED AMONG THOSE WHO AT THE CALL OF KING AND COUNTRY LEFT ALL THAT WAS DEAR TO THEM, ENDURED HARDNESS, FACED DANGER AND FINALLY PASSED OUT OF THE SIGHT OF MEN BY THE PATH OF DUTY AND SELF SACRIFICE BY GIVING UP THEIR OWN LIVES THAT OTHER MEN MIGHT LIVE IN FREEDOM. LET THOSE WHO COME AFTER SEE TO IT THAT THEIR NAMES BE NOT FORGOTTEN."

The left panel on the right side records the Second World War dead with the inscription "1939-1945 WAR".

The woodcarver was Mr R. Percy Appleby. The memorial was unveiled on 1st August 1920 by Viscountess Allendale and dedicated by Canon Newsom, with an original photograph of the ceremony preserved. Among those commemorated, J Routledge was awarded the Military Medal in 1916 and Albert Henderson was awarded the Croix de Guerre in 1917.