Remembrance Day: How Southend almost never got its memorial

The Cliff-top war memorial, overlooking the Thames Estuary, has been a place for people to reflect on the sacrifices made by so many, since it was unveiled in November of 1921.

The opening ceremony saw 21,000 people turn out to watch, as well as a swathe of VIPs including the Bishop of Chelmsford who dedicated the 40ft hight memorial.

Southend had never seen crowds like it – apart from perhaps the day the Queen Victoria statue was unveiled some 23 years earlier.

But Southend came close to never getting the memorial we know today.

In the years after the First World War in Southend, some council leaders thought a new hospital would serve as a better memorial to the fallen than a lone monument In January 1919, a meeting was held to discuss a war memorial in the town. One committee put forward the idea that the memorial should take the shape of a hospital.

Sir Edwin Lutyens - the architect who designed Southend’s war memorial (Image: Newsquest)

It would mean £50,000 would need to be raised to build the hospital and fit it out, but this was a popular option for several reasons.

Owing to a lack of space at the existing Victoria Hospital a number of patients were regularly being sent to London for treatment. Others were going without treatment altogether.

It was also thought that a hospital building would be of more benefit to the Southend community as a whole.

Supporter of the idea, a Mrs Harken, of the hospital committee, told the meeting: “We have to think not only of the men but of the women and children also.”

But the idea was hard to swallow for a former Army officer named Mr Farmer, who had served on the Front in the Great War.

Mr Farmer, a member of the Southend and Soldier’s Federation, said he was “disgusted” that the war was being used to raise money for what was a necessity in the town.

He rebuked the suggestion, saying: “The hospital is a necessity, not a memorial and servicemen have had enough of hospitals!”

Mr Farmer’s speech was met with a round of applause by others who shared the same opinion.

Other suggestions touted included building almshouses and an exclusive social club for former soldiers as the town’s tribute to the fallen, but in the end plans for a monument won the day.

Carved from the same stone used to build Buckingham Palace and St Paul’s Cathedral, the Southend war memorial was designed by famous architect Sir Edwin Lutyens, who also designed the Cenotaph on Whitehall in London where the Royal family pay their respects every Remembrance Day.

A number of other war memorials were unveiled in the years following the end of the Great War.

In May 1920, a striking war memorial was unveiled in Benfleet thanks to residents raising the money needed themselves. The monument was designed by the noted church architect Sir Charles Nicholson who lived for many years at the historic Porters civic house in Southend.

Billericay unveiled its war memorial in 1921 as did Shoebury, Wickford’s was in 1922, Pitsea’s in 1928 Laindon’s in 1935 while Canvey revealed its war memorial hall in 1952.