Fleetwood Memorial Park Gate

A Baroque park gateway of 1902 in the form of a triumphal arch, probably by Thomas Lumb, with gates of 1926 by H H Martyn & Co.

MATERIALS: painted iron gates set within a painted rendered-brick archway.

PLAN: a linear gateway comprising a central arch flanked by smaller arches and short stub walls.

DESCRIPTION: situated at the main eastern entrance into the Memorial Park off Park Avenue opposite Warrenhurst Road. The gates frame Remembrance Avenue leading to the park's war memorial (NHLE 1116884) and form an important part of the vista created by Abercrombie.

The central arch is double width, and flanked by coupled engaged columns with heavy blocking at the base, while the side arches are flanked by rusticated square pilasters. Each arch has a tall projecting keystone and capital mouldings to the jambs at the springing point. The arches are surmounted by a dentilled cornice, with attached lettering reading ‘MEMORIAL PARK’ and a balustrade over the central arch. The stub walls have attached metal numbers giving the dates of the First and Second World Wars at the left and right respectively. The design elements are all repeated on the park elevation and the narrow returns.

The design of all the gates is similar, with a margin of circles, central panels of vertical bars with circles below, and a lower panel with a central sunburst design. The centre gates are shouldered at the hinge with an anthemion finial, while the outer gates are surmounted by a moulded horizontal bar supported on scrolled feet. Brass plaques are fitted to each of the central gates, depicting a soldier and a marine.

This List entry has been amended to add sources for War Memorials Online and the War Memorials Register. These sources were not used in the compilation of this List entry but are added here as a guide for further reading, 2 February 2017.