Port Sunlight War Memorial

Port Sunlight War Memorial

This Grade I listed war memorial was designed by sculptor William Goscombe John RA and built by William Kirkpatrick Ltd, with the bronze sculpture cast at the A. B Burton Foundry at Thames Ditton. The memorial occupies the most prominent position in Port Sunlight village, standing at the intersection of its two major streets, The Causeway and The Diamond.

The memorial consists of a runic granite cross with a chamfered shaft mounted on an octagonal podium with radiating steps. It is surrounded by eleven figures and twelve relief panels executed in bronze. The figural group clustered around the base of the cross comprises three soldiers, two women and six children, all depicted larger than life. Four round-headed relief panels depict different services—ambulance men with wounded soldiers, gunners, sailors and anti-aircraft personnel. The remaining eight panels show children holding wreaths or palm leaves.

The sculpture embodies the theme 'Defence of the Realm', expressed through strong narrative detail. The soldiers are shown with guns raised, defending the women and children behind them from an impending imaginary invasion in a powerful and melodramatic tableau. The work makes clear distinctions between genders and their separate but equally significant roles during wartime, powerfully reflecting the emotional cost and impact of war on the home front.

The memorial records 511 names in total, of which 117 are from the Second World War. The inscriptions include the words "Their Names Shall Live For Ever And Their Glory Shall Not Be Blotted Out" on the south panel, and note that the memorial was erected by Lever Brothers Limited and the company's employees throughout the British Empire and allied countries. It was unveiled on 3 December 1921 by Sergeant E.G. Eames of Port Sunlight, who lost his sight at the First Battle of the Somme in 1916, and by Private R.E. Cruickshank of the London Branch Office, who was awarded the Victoria Cross in 1918 for conspicuous bravery and devotion to duty in Palestine. The base of the plinth records the names of all who served, numbering over four thousand, recorded in a book deposited beneath the stone and in similar books in Christ Church and the Lady Lever Art Gallery.