ICI War Memorial

War memorial, commemorating the employees of Imperial Chemical Industries Ltd (ICI) who fell during the Second World War. It was erected in 1949 to designs by Gilbert Bayes RBS (Sculptor) and plaques were produced by Morris Singer and Company Limited (Foundry).

MATERIALS: Portland stone with four bronze plaques, a granite base and pedestal, and a low-stepped paving slab plinth.

PLAN: rectangular, faces NE towards Station Road.

The memorial comprises a 4.26m tall cenotaph in an Art Nouveau style, mounted on a low stepped plinth. The top of the shaft is formed by a stylised tomb set on a plinth with a carved garland, supported by inverted consul bracket ends. The ICI logo flanked by swags is carved in half-relief towards the top of the front and rear faces of the shaft, with the dates 1939-1945 inscribed further down on the front face and BILLINGHAM on the rear. The four bronze plaques have lettering raised in Roman capitals; the front plaque reads: 1939 1945 / IMPERIAL CHEMICAL INDUSTRIES / LIMITED / TO THE PROUD MEMORY / OF THE EMPLOYEES OF BILLINGHAM / WHO LOST THEIR LIVES / IN THE SECOND WORLD WAR, with a wreath in relief. The plaque on the rear records 88 names in three columns, while the right side plaque records 56 names, and the left plaque, 57 names.

This List entry has been amended to add the source for War Memorials Online. This source was not used in the compilation of this List entry but is added here as a guide for further reading, 7 February 2017.