Pearl Centre war memorial

War memorial, dated 1919, designed by Sir George James Frampton RA, dedicated to the fallen of the First World War, and four bronze plaques, dedicated to the fallen of the Second World War.

DESCRIPTION: The war memorial is rectangular on plan, and takes the form of a bronze statue of St George trampling the dragon, standing on a tall granite plinth which bears bronze plaques to each elevation, over a three-stepped granite base with corner posts. The statue of St George depicts the character in medieval armour of around 1450, holding in his right hand a cruciform sword, the hilt surrounded by a wreath, whilst his left hand rests on a cross-like shield. The bronze base of the statue bears the signature of the artist on its east elevation ‘GEO. FRAMPTON RA / 1919’. Under the statue at the top part of the plinth is a band of cast-bronze ornament, with high-relief sculptures to the east and west elevations of a soldier’s helmet within a wreath, and low relief sculptural panels to the north and south elevations depicting aviation and maritime wartime scenes respectively. The granite plinth bears a bronze plaque to each elevation with the names of 444 employees of the company who fell in the First World War (1914-18) in low relief. The plaque on the south elevation reads: ‘OF THE STAFF OF THE PEARL / ASSURANCE COMPANY THESE / GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR THE / FREEDOM OF THE WORLD IN THE / YEARS OF OUR LORD 1914-1918’. The plaque on the west elevation reads: ‘THEY PASSED AWAY IN THE DAYS / OF THEIR STRENGTH. THEY / LIVE FOREVER IN THE UNDYING / FACT OF THEIR SACRIFICE.’

The east elevation of the computer block of the Pearl Centre bears four bronze plaques, which are inscribed and painted with the names of 215 employees who fell in the Second World War (1939-45), and each reads: ‘MEMBERS OF THE STAFF OF PEARL ASSURANCE COMPANY LTD / WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES FOR FREEDOM IN / WORLD WAR 1939-1945.’

The memorial and plaques are situated within a dedicated memorial garden to the east of the Pearl Centre, designed by Chapman Taylor Partners, and built between 1989 and 1992 (listed at Grade II, NHLE 1462664) within a designed landscape by Professor Arnold Weddle of the Landscape Research Office Ltd (registered at Grade II, NHLE 1462808).