The memorial was designed by Philip B. Bennison in 1921 for the civilians and servicemen killed in World War One. It has a raked, stepped plinth to a square, coursed, rockfaced pedestal with ashlar quoins at the angles, a roll moulding at the base and a chamfered cornice.
A square shaft supports a further pedestal with chamfered plinth and cornice. This is surmounted by a draped bronze figure of Winged Victory. The four faces of the uppermost pedestal bear sculptured bronze achievements of arms, the seal of Hartlepool and a cartouche dated 1914. The East face of the shaft is inscribed “For us they died” and the West face: “Live thou for England”.
I was commissioned to carry out the paint analysis of the surfaces in order to establish whether the memorial had ever been painted or gilded.
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Fascinating, as your art detective stories always are.
How kind of you. It’s actually quite fun when one can answer questions and scotch myths.