University of Reading War Memorial

University of Reading War Memorial
United Kingdom
For approximately 200 men and women from Reading killed in war
Unveiled	1924
Location	51°27′01.6″N 00°57′40.3″W / 51.450444°N 0.961194°W / 51.450444; -0.961194 London Road Campus, University of Reading, Reading, Berkshire
Designed by	Herbert Maryon
Listed Building – Grade II
Official name	University of Reading War Memorial
Designated	12 February 1987
Reference no.	1113620

The University of Reading War Memorial is a clock tower, designed by Herbert Maryon and situated on the London Road Campus of the University of Reading. Initially designed as a First World War memorial and dedicated in June 1924, it was later expanded in scope to also serve as a memorial of later wars.

History and design[edit]

Memorials to servicemen who died in the First World War were erected soon after the end of the conflict.^[1] Plans to build a permanent memorial at the University of Reading unfolded in 1919, when William Macbride Childs, the principal of the college, printed a pamphlet suggesting several ideas.^[2] The final design was ultimately made by Herbert Maryon, a teacher of sculpture at the university;^[2] he would later gain broad recognition in a second career at the British Museum, where he conserved many of the finds from the Sutton Hoo ship-burial, termed "the most important single discovery in British archaeology."^[3] His initial proposal, made in 1919, was for a tower of 120 feet (37 m) that would have cost between £5,000 and £10,000.^[1] The funds could not be raised, and in 1923 Maryon proposed a structure of half that height.^[1][2] Construction began that November, and the memorial was dedicated the following June.^[2] The finished memorial, which cost £2,750, is a 60-foot-tall (18 m) brick tower with a clock, a bell, and a bronze roll of honour listing the names of more than 140 people who died in the war.^[2][4]

The scope of the memorial was expanded following the Second World War, and in May 1953 a panel with more than 70 names of the dead from that conflict was unveiled.^[1][2][4][5] It now also commemorates those who died in the war in Afghanistan;^[2] in 2012 a plaque was unveiled honouring Lieutenant Colonel Rupert Thorneloe, MBE, a 1991 graduate of the University whose 2009 death made him the highest-ranking officer of the British Army killed in action since the Falklands War.^[6]

On 12 February 1987, the memorial was designated a grade II listed building, a status given for its special architectural or historic interest.^[7]

On 9 November 2018, the University of Reading announced plans to add nine additional names of servicemen who died in the First World War to the memorial.^[8][9][10]

References[edit]