Erection date: 13/11/1921
{On the right hand gate pier:}
They come transfigured back,
secure from change in their high-hearted ways,
beautiful evermore and with the rays
of morn on their white shields of expectation.
{On the frieze of the quadrant walls:}
In proud and grateful memory of the men and women of this borough who laid down their lives in the Great Wars 1914 - 18, 1939 - 45.
{On the piers either side of each quadrant wall:}
1939 1945
1914 1918
{On the piers terminating the WW2 wings:}
1939
1945
The quotation comes from 'Ode Recited at the Harvard Commemoration, July 21, 1865' by James Russell Lowell. Its right-justification and the less than robust lettering suggests to us that this is a relatively new inscription.
As can be seen on the lovely old postcard at Roll of Honour this monument originally consisted of the pair of wrought iron gates flanked by two piers, flanked by two quadrant walls with another pair of piers at the extremities of the walls; the piers all surmounted by stone vases. The 1,058 names listed for WW1 are on the lower panels of the quadrant walls. To carry the 512 names for WW2 some additions were made: wings were added to left and right with terminating piers and 24 short panels added above the original ones on the quadrant walls.
The names are available at the Imperial War Museum War Memorials Register. The IWM count of names is confusing: it has a list of what it says are 1,047 names, but it also says there are 1,018 WW1 names and 510 WW2 names.
Lt Gilbert Shuffrey, the architect's second son, was killed in 2015. His name appears on this memorial and is the only name to appear in full.
Site: Ealing memorial gates - WW1 + WW2 (1 memorial)
W5, Ealing Green, Pitzhanger Manor-house entrance
From the Listing entry: "Erected in 1921 by Ealing Borough Council to the design of Leonard Shuffrey. Extended after 1945 to commemorate the dead of the Second World War. ... The memorial forms the principal entrance gates to Pitzhanger Manor, remodelled by Sir John Soane in 1802, which was used as Ealing public library from 1901-1984. It was designed by the Ealing architect, Leonard Shuffrey, whose son Gilbert died in the First World War and whose name is among those commemorated. The name of one woman, Alice Harman, who was killed in an accident at a munitions factory at Acton in 1916, is also recorded. .... a symmetrical composition comprising gate piers, quadrant walls and end piers supported on a moulded plinth, each pier bearing a stone urn from Elm Grove, the Ealing home of Prime Minister Spencer Perceval."
Describing the planning for this memorial the Ealing page says: "The memorial was to be a gateway, in front of the manor’s main entrance. It was to comprise of two walls, which would list the names of those who had been killed in the war. Finally, there would be a tree-lined avenue from St. Mary’s Road across the green to the gateway." We think they must mean from the High Street, which is a continuation of St Mary's Road. While there are quite a lot of trees on the Green there is no identifiable avenue, as can be seen (or rather, not seen) in our photo. The world certainly needs more trees and this would seem like a wonderful opportunity for the Council to carry out a long-standing plan and do something good for the planet.
