Memorial details

Memorial type
Lamp or lighting
District
Newham
Town
Bromley By Bow
County
Greater London
Country
England
Commemoration
First World War (1914-1918), Second World War (1939-1945)
Ceremony
  • Unveiled
    Date: 14 June 1922
    Attended by: Mr. D. Milne Watson (Governor of the Gas Light and Coke Company) unveiled the memorial
Lost
Not lost
WM Reference
12642

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Current location

Bromley-by-Bow Gas Works Memorial Garden
Twelve Trees Crescent
Mill Meads
Bromley By Bow
Newham
Greater London
E3 3JQ
England

OS Grid Ref: TQ 38542 82381
Denomination: Undefined

View location on Google Maps
Previous locations
  • The Gas Light and Coke Company
    Beckton
    Newham
    Greater London
    E6
    England

    OS Grid Ref: TQ 38542 82381
    Denomination: Undefined
Description
Stone plinth and column, surmounted with flat capital on which sits an original gas lamp containing an eternal flame. It stands in the centre of the Memorial garden, close to two further memorials commemorating the Company's employees. (The stone plinth originally had two bronze plaques attached to it, commemorating Company's employees who died in each of the World Wars; replicas were made of each of those plaques, and displayed at the Company's other worksites. In 2006 the two plaques attached to the Lamp's plinth were stolen. Whilst the Lamp memorial was thereby robbed of its inscription, its significance as the Company's original War Memorial to its employees nevertheless remains intact. When replacements for the stolen plaques were subsequently made, they were installed within a rotunda near the Lamp - see our record 12644 for details of those replacement plaques. A separate memorial stands nearby, commemorating 107 employees of the Brentford Gas Company who died in WW1 - to which our record 12643 relates; that company was taken over by the Gas Light and Coke Company in 1926).
Inscription
The Memorial Lamp now bears no inscription, as the relevant plaques that were formerly attached to its plinth were stolen in 2006. The stolen WW1 plaque read: THESE MEN DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY/1914-1919/THE GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY./ (549 Names). The stolen WW2 plaque read: TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF THE/COMPANY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR/OF 1939-45/REQUIESCANT IN PACE/(402 Names)
Inscription legible?
yes
Commemorations
  • First World War (1914-1918)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: (The Lamp now bears no WW1 names, as the plaque bearing the initials and surnames of 549 fatal WW1 casualties was stolen).
    Order of information: Undefined
  • Second World War (1939-1945)
    Total names on memorial: 0
    Served and returned: 0
    Died: 0
    Exact count: yes
    Information shown: (The Lamp now bears no WW2 names, as the plaque bearing the initials and surnames of 402 fatal WW2 casualties was stolen).
    Order of information: Undefined
Components
  • Lamp or Lighting
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
  • Column
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone - Portland
  • Plinth
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Stone - Portland
  • Plaques
    Measurements: Undefined
    Materials: Bronze
Listing information
  • WAR MEMORIAL
  • Grade II
  • This memorial is protected, and listed on the National Heritage List for England maintained by Historic England. View list entry
  • More about listing and the protection of historic places can be found on the Historic England website
  • Historic England
Condition
History
August 2006: The two bronze plaques were stolen from the plinth. (Replacements for those plaques were subsequently commissioned, and installed on a separate wall, within a rotunda near the Lamp. Our record 12644 relates to those replacement plaques).// Post WW2: The bronze plaque commemorating 402 WW2 casualties was fixed to the plinth.// 1922: The memorial was unveiled at the Company's site at Beckton. The bronze plaque commemorating 549 employees who had died in that War was attached to the Lamp's plinth.
Trust fund/Scholarship
No
Purpose: Unknown or N/A
Sponsorship
Corporate
Details: The creation of the Lamp Memorial (including its attached bronze WW1 plaque) and its installation at the Beckton worksite was funded by the company's War Memorial Fund, to which the company's staff, workmen, and shareholders all contributed. A bronze WW2 plaque was subsequently added. (Replica copies of each of the plaques were commissioned, which were displayed at the Company's other worksites).
Reference
  • Kentish Independent Friday 16th June 1922 reported: 'WAR MEMORIAL UNVEILED. GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY, BECKTON. Mr. D. Milne Watson, the governor of the Gas Light and Coke Company, on Wednesday unveiled the monument which has just been erected at Beckton in memory of the company's employees at those works who fell during the Great War. It may be of interest to add that Beckton, which is situated on the north bank of the river just below the Albert Docks is the largest gas manufacturing station in the county, having a capacity of 78,200,000 cubic feet per diem. The memorial, which has been erected in Portland stone, takes the form of a column crowned by a bronze lamp. To the plinth of the column is attached a bronze tablet with the figure of St. George, and bearing the names of the fallen. The tablet was designed by Mr. A. C. Carter and Miss Gillian Manner, and the column and lamp by Mr. A. C. Carter. The service, which was, unfortunately, marred by heavy rain, was conducted by the Rev. Canon R. W. Porter, vicar of East Ham, and the Rev. J. Living - Taylor, Baptist minister of Barking, and was attended by the relatives of the fallen and a large number of the company's workmen and staff. In unveiling the tablet, the governor stated that no less than 5,000 men belonging to the company had answered their country's call, of whom 500 fallen. Of these latter, 97 came from Beckton itself. Not merely were their names recorded on the bronze tablet but their memory was kept green by the company's War Memorial Fund, to which. the company's staff, workmen, and shareholders had all contributed, and which was designed in the first place to relieve cases of distress due to the war. At the conclusion of the ceremony the governor, on behalf of himself and his fellow directors, placed a wreath at the base of the memorial'. www.britishnewspaperarchive.co.uk/viewer/bl/0001018/19220616/082/0004
  • Memorial Garden, Bromley by Bow Gasworks londongardenstrust.org/inventory/gardens-online-record.php?ID=NEW021
  • London Parks and Gardens website records the following details of the Company's history, and of the memorial and its setting: 'Bromley-by-Bow Gas Works was built in 1870-73 by the Imperial Gas Light and Coke Company, established in 1821, on the site of a former explosives factory. It was laid out with two large retort houses, an exhauster house, a boiler house, workshop, tanks and purifiers, and a large dock for coal barges at the south. To the north was a group of nine gasholders built between 1871 and 1882. In 1878 the company was bought by the Gas Light and Coke Company, which owned the larger gasworks at Beckton, and, the oldest gas company in the world, had been the first company to build a public gasworks in Westminster in 1812. By 1882, the Gas Light and Coke Company was one of just four gas companies supplying the inner areas of London. In its heyday it occupied 65 hectares and produced 21 million cu. ft of gas daily. By 1924 the Gas Light and Coke Company became the largest supplier in the world as well as the original company from which British Gas descended. The industry was nationalised in 1949; the arrival of North Sea Gas led to the decline of Bromley Gas Works and gas production ceased in 1976; its seven surviving gasholders were then used for storage of North Sea Gas. The North Thames Region of British Gas had its services and supplies headquarters here as well as the London Gas Museum and Library. The Memorial Garden was laid out to commemorate those who worked at the Bromley-by-Bow Gasworks who had died in the two world wars and was a place of relaxation for the staff. The memorial structures comprise a cast-stone Rotunda with six spiral-fluted Corinthian columns set on decorative pedestals and supporting a heavily enriched frieze with an openwork wrought-iron dome. Its paved circular stone base has a floral mosaic at the centre on which is a stone memorial tablet with two bronze plaques. The upper plaque has an angel with sword and armour, probably Archangel Michael, and an inscription in raised lettering: THESE MEN DIED FOR THEIR COUNTRY/ [548 NAMES]/ 1914-1919/ THE GAS LIGHT AND COKE COMPANY. The lower plaque is inscribed: TO THE MEMORY OF THOSE MEMBERS OF/ THE COMPANY WHO GAVE THEIR LIVES IN THE WAR/ OF 1939-45 REQUIESCANT IN PACE/ [NAMES]. There are 402 names on this plaque, which also has the arms of the company, featuring a pair of salamanders breathing fire. Adjacent to the Rotunda is another memorial with a bronze plaque set on a stone tablet with a chamfered rectangular stone base. The inscription in raised lettering on the plaque reads: IN PROUD AND GRATEFUL/ REMEMBRANCE/ MCMXIV. OF OUR COMRADES IN THESE WORKS/ MCMXVIII./ WHO DURING THE GREAT WAR/ LAID DOWN THEIR LIVES/ FOR US AND FOR THEIR COUNTRY./ [NAMES]/ “GREATER LOVE HATH NO MAN THAN THIS”. A statue of Sir Corbet Woodhall (1841-1916), engineer and Governor of the Gas Light and Coke Company, which had formerly stood at the Beckton works, was moved to the Memorial Garden after the gasworks closed. The Gas Light and Coke Company Memorial Lamp, also originally located at Beckton Gas Works, is just to the north of a late C19th company Roundel that is located outside the former London Gas Museum. Located nearby and inter-visible with the memorials and roundel, the seven surviving Bromley-by-Bow gasholders, all listed Grade II, are thought to be the largest group of Victorian gasholders in the world'. londongardenstrust.org/conservation/inventory/site-record/?ID=NEW021
  • www.warmemorialsonline.org.uk/memorial/111103
  • Historic England's record of the Grade II Listing of this memorial on 9/4/2008 includes the following information: 'War Memorial commemorating the employees of the Gas Light & Coke Company killed in both World Wars. Architect unknown; perhaps moved to this site from Beckton gas works. Memorial comprises a stone column surmounted with flat capital on which sits a tall iron-framed and glass octagonal gas lamp. This is set on a stone base, rectangular in plan, which formerly held two bronze plaques commemorating the many employees killed in World Wars I and II, stolen in 2007. These included ceramic tiles with the arms of the company, featuring a pair of salamanders breathing fire. The war memorial sits in a memorial garden to the north of the former London Gas Museum. Adjacent to this are two other memorials, as well as a statue of Sir Corbett Woodall, Governor of the Gas Light & Coke Company 1906-16. The war memorial has Group Value with the Bromley-by-Bow gas holders to the north and the statue of Sir Corbett Woodhall. Summary of importance: there is strong historic interest to this war memorial that commemorates the many employees of the Gas Light & Coke Company killed in both world wars. It is also architecturally strong, comprising a stately column that is emotively and fittingly capped with a gas lamp, which evokes the 'eternal flame' and links it closely to the history of this important company'. historicengland.org.uk/listing/the-list/list-entry/1392547?section=official-list-entry

This record comprises all information held by IWM’s War Memorials Register for this memorial. Where we hold a names list for the memorial, this information will be displayed on the memorial record. Please check back as we are adding more names to the database.

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