By Richard Bryant, Lindfield History Project Group
November 2018 marks one hundred years since the signing of the Armistice brought to an end the fighting in the Great War. Lindfield Life, in the Lest We Forget column, has been listing the men and sons of Lindfield who died as a result of the war. Their names are recorded for all time on the memorials in the churchyard and south transept of All Saints church.
As we remember them, it is timely to look at the Village War Memorial in the churchyard and its dedication in November 1922. Initial thoughts on a memorial for the village, as a permanent testament to the sacrifice made by local men, were first expressed in early 1919. However, it was not until 1920, following formation of a War Memorial Committee by the Parish Council, that discussions started in earnest. Over numerous meetings the Committee considered various suggestions to be funded by public subscription, including a monument, public bath facilities, housing for ex-servicemen, endowed beds at Haywards Heath Cottage Hospital and a scholarship fund for village children. After protracted discussions agreement was eventually reached on a stone monument as this would be a lasting tribute where flowers could be placed by relatives.
Various sites were considered, including in the middle of the High Street at the junction with Lewes Road. A site on the Common at the southern approach to the village became much favoured, although there were concerns about possible damage. At a meeting of subscribers held in August 1921, All Saints churchyard was unanimously decided upon as the preferred site. The Committee commissioned Ninian Comper (knighted in the 1950s) to design the monument, and he visited the churchyard producing a design to specifically address the location and space available. The chosen position was in the west boundary wall, which would ensure the memorial could be seen by passers-by in the High Street and all entering All Saints church.
Sir John Ninian Comper (1864-1960) is regarded as the greatest British church architect of the 20th century and one of the last great gothic revival architects. Noted for his churches, their furnishings and stained glass, he attended Ruskin School of Art at Oxford. Afterwards he worked as an assistant to Charles Eamer Kempe, the renowned stained glass artist and church decorator, before being articled to Frederick Bodley. Then he joined Thomas Garner and later went into partnership with William Bucknall.
After the Great War, Ninian Comper received a number of commissions for war memorials, the most notable being the Welsh National War Memorial in Cardiff. Crosses with Calvary or lantern heads were his favoured designs for monuments in town and villages. The War Memorial Committee is thought to have chosen Comper due to his connection with Charles Eamer Kempe, whose country house had been at Lindfield. It was now occupied by his nephew, Walter Tower, a prominent member of the War Memorial Committee; and, as the owner of C E Kempe & Co, he probably knew Ninian Comper.
Calvary Cross
The estimate for the Calvary cross design chosen by the Committee was £328 plus £37 extra for inscribing the names, totalling £365 excluding architects fees. The sum subscribed to the fund by villagers stood at £425.
Comper worked in collaboration with William Drinkwater Gough (c1861-1937), a well respected mason and sculptor based in Kennington, south London, and the making of the Lindfield cross is attributed to Gough. Facing west on to the High Street, the memorial takes the form of a churchyard cross built into the churchyard boundary wall. Made in Clipsham stone from Rutland, the tapering octagonal column ascends some 20 feet to a cross. The column stands on four classic scrolls mounted on a square plinth set at an angle into the boundary wall.
At the head of the column is a cross, upon the west side is the Calvary with the elaborately sculptured figures of Christ crucified and standing on a ledge beside Christ are John, his beloved disciple, and Mary Magdalene. At the top of the cross is a scroll bearing the letters INRI standing for ‘Jesus of Nazareth King of the Jews’; being the sign placed over Christ’s head during the Crucifixion. In the centre of the ledge beneath the feet of Christ is a shield with stylised Greek letters for alpha and omega with a pattee cross; a device for naming the figure on the cross as Christ the Redeemer, as in ‘I am the Alpha and the Omega; the beginning and the end’ (Revelation 1:8). Upon the reverse of the cross, facing east, is the figure of the Madonna with the Divine Child. Centrally on the ledge is a shield inscribed with the letters IHS. The letters are recognised as having a number of meanings relating to Jesus, the most fitting being ‘in this cross is salvation’.
Engraved on the left side of the inward facing base is ‘1914’ and below the inscription ‘CHRIST DIED FOR ALL MEN’ and on the right ‘1918’ and ‘THESE FOR THEIR COUNTRY’. On either side of the base are stones set into the wall on which are inscribed the 61 names of the fallen in alphabetical order without rank. On Sunday 12th November 1922 almost 100 ex- service men assembled on the Common and marched to All Saints church, headed by the Lindfield Boy Scouts’ Drum and Bugle band, for the Dedication Service. Lining the roadway outside the church were the Lindfield Boy Scouts and Wolf Cubs, Lindfield Girl Guides and Scaynes Hill Girl Guides. In addition to the ex-service men, the congregation included relatives of the fallen, members of the Parish Council, the Voluntary Aid Detachment and War Memorial Committee.
After the service, which included the recital of the names of the men who died, the congregation was led to the memorial behind the processional cross borne by Jesse Newnham Jnr. Three of his brothers had been killed in the war. A large crowd had gathered awaiting the dedication. The Bishop of Lewes pulled away the flag covering the names and read the prayers of dedication followed by a well-received address.
This was followed by John Arkwright’s hymn ‘The Supreme Sacrifice’, the bugle calls ‘Last Post’ and ‘Reveille’, a minute’s silence, the laying of wreaths and the National Anthem. Mr Stevens, chairman of War Memorial Committee, then handed over the memorial to the village with the words: ‘On behalf of the subscribers to this memorial, I hereby deliver it to the village of Lindfield, to be tended and cared for through all generations’. Afterwards, the ex-service men were entertained to tea in The Tiger.
The generation that suffered so much loss and hardship gave Lindfield a memorial worthy of their sacrifice and for the remembrance of their fallen. It is our duty to ensure that those who died are remembered and their memorial is cared for and protected for the future.