Many people suspect that there are plans to relocate it – despite a council denial
The city’s war memorial(Image: Derby Telegraph)
Alarm bells have started ringing for a large number of people who have been putting two and two together regarding the future of the city’s Grade II-listed war memorial and are thinking that might not have a future in the proposed rejuvenation of Derby’s Market Place.
The last time there was an attempt to relocate it in 2004, there was a huge public outcry, and there is no reason there wouldn’t be another one 22 years later.
On that occasion, the plan was to move it adjacent to Derby Cathedral, at the top of Amen Alley, and the latest talk of possible changes in the public realm around the city has remarkable similarities.
A recently published consultation document about how the city should look mentions the “re-siting” of the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Gardens from its current position near the Quad, sandwiched between Tennant Street and Corporation Street.
The proposal goes on to mention it should be relocated “to a shaded position south of the cathedral, fostering a peaceful atmosphere” – and adjacent to Full Street opposite an also revitalised Cathedral Green under the plans.
With an outline planning application that sees the demise of the Assembly Rooms building and a new building on its footprint, an office block and a hotel, already with the council’s planners, and plans to make the Market Place more of a social space, it’s easy to understand why people have jumped to the conclusion that the war memorial could be on the move to the proposed relocated memorial garden.
This is one of many Remembrance Sunday events down the the memorial’s 101 year history(Image: Derby Telegraph)
So Derbyshire Live asked the council press office about the possibility of the war memorial moving and received this reply: “The suggestion is that a memorial garden could be created near the cathedral, which would not affect the war memorial. It is only a suggestion at this stage – hence the consultation.”
So despite a denial currently, people are not convinced.
I, for one, do not blame them. It wouldn’t be the first time that the memorial has been under threat, let alone the fact that when it was being constructed initially, eventually in 1924, the plan was to put it out of the way on former burial land behind St Peter’s Church.
Imagine trying to get all the dignitaries and forces personnel, old and new, gathered around the memorial if it had been sited in St Peter’s Churchyard.
Quite rightly, it was decided the memorial should be placed in the town’s most prominent position – its Market Place, which in those days actually had a market and was very bustling, as was the Market Hall – and officials cleared away some of the market stalls in the process.
In 1994, the war memorial was repositioned slightly to make way for Market Place changes, including the waterfall.
It now has studs to stop people from sitting on it and to deter skateboarders who used the steps for tricks for a while around that time.
It would be hard to imagine the war memorial anywhere other than centre stage and the proposed plans for the Market Place to bring in more footfall than there has been for many years would only serve to display it to more people in all its glory.
It took Derby six years to get around to creating the memorial to the town’s fallen dead of the First World War – shameful in itself and only one of three major towns without a memorial at that stage.
Since then, world warfare has continued in many forms, and the war memorial has been used to commemorate each and every one of the fallen soldiers, from 1924 to the present day.
The council backed down within a couple of weeks in 2004 and made out it had only been a suggestion “and there were just some talks going on”. Does that sound familiar?
At the same time in 2004, the council was also under fire for trying to remove the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Gardens, and with it the Korean memorial, and build arts centre Quad in its place. That took nine months of protest to persuade the council that the city could have Quad and also keep the Sir Peter Hilton Memorial Garden.
So while the war memorial itself does not appear to be under threat of relocation, yet, it seems that plans to move the memorial garden are already in a consultation document.
So maybe the people who have jumped to the conclusion that the war memorial could move have long memories and know what can happen. And maybe those people may yet need to take action over it, and potentially the memorial gardens, if they feel strongly.
I see the war memorial as more than just a commemoration to the fallen dead.
It is a symbol of civic pride that stands as testimony to how the people of Derby gave their hard-earned money to make sure that the image of the bronze figure of a soldier’s widow, holding a child, should stand proudly for all time in a prominent place for everyone to see, and not be pushed into an off-track location.
Be warned – once again, veterans old and new stand ready to challenge any attempt to move the statue and also the memorial gardens, and the council needs to think carefully if it wants to do otherwise.
